"young, robust woman," Old English cwene "woman," also "female serf, hussy, prostitute" (as in portcwene "public woman"), from Proto-Germanic *kwenon (cognates: Old Saxon quan, Old High German quena, Old Norse kona, Gothic qino "wife, woman"); see queen. Popular 16c.-17c. in sense "hussy." Sense of "effeminate homosexual" is recorded from 1935, especially in Australian slang.