Scottish Word of the Week: Quine – the Doric way to describe a lassie

For example, lassie may be more commonly used to describe a young woman in some parts of the country, but in the north-east of Scotland you’re just as likely to hear this word instead – quine.

A word typically associated with the Scots dialect of Doric, here is what quine means and where it comes from.

What does quine mean?

In the present day, quine simply means a young woman.

If you’re in or around the north-east of Scotland you may also hear people refer to “loons and quines”, meaning boys and girls.

Quine has a long history and as such there have been several meanings assigned to the word over the centuries. According to the Dictionary of the Scots Language, quine can also commonly mean “a serving girl or woman”, with earlier dictionary entries highlighting that the word was also used typically to refer to a woman of low social standing or “mild disparagement”.

Historically there is also another (far less pleasant) definition of the word, with quine used to describe “a woman of bad character; a hussy; a harlot or strumpet”.

The word has even featured in Robert Burns’ work, with the Scottish poet writing in Tam O ‘Shanter: “Now Tam, O Tam! had thae been queans, / A' plump and strapping in their teens!”

Where does the word quine come from?

The origins of quine can be traced back to the 18th century, however other spelling variations – such as “quyne”, “quean”, “quein” and more – can be traced back far earlier, some to around the 15th century.

While in present day it is mostly used within the Scots dialect of Doric, outside of the north-east quine can be traced to areas in Scotland including Angus, Perthshire and Fife.

It is known as a Scots variant of the middle English and early modern English word “quen(e)” – meaning queen – and the old English word cwén which means woman or wife.