🇯🇵Japanese Source WordCode: JA

皇太后

Pronunciation / Transliteration: kōtaigō

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Queen-mother/ˈkwiːnˌmʌð.ɚ/
nounCEFR C1 (Advanced)Top #15200 frequency
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🇯🇵 Example Sentence in Japanese:

"皇太后は宮殿で公式行事に出席された。"

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A queen who is the mother of a reigning king or queen.

    "The queen-mother attended the coronation ceremony alongside the new monarch."
  2. 2

    In social insect colonies, a founding or senior egg-laying female.

    "The colony was sustained by the prolific output of the queen-mother."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

The term combines the Old English 'cwēn' (woman, wife, queen) with 'mōdor' (mother), appearing in Middle English to describe a queen who is the mother of the reigning monarch. It historically parallels terms in various monarchical systems denoting the elevated status of a dowager queen who maintains royal lineage significance through her child.

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