queue
[ kyoo ]
/ kyu /
noun
a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.
a file or line, especially of people waiting their turn.
Computers.
a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.
verb (used with or without object), queued, queu·ing.
to form in a line while waiting (often followed by up).
Computers.
to arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.
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Homophones are words that sound the same but mean different things (and are often times spelled differently too). "Queue" and "cue" are examples of homophones. Do you know what they both mean?
Origin of queue
1585–95; < Middle French < Latin
cauda, cōda tail
historical usage of queue
The English noun
queue comes from Middle French
queu, quewe, queuue, cueue (with many other variant spellings) and Old French
cue, coe “tail,” from Latin
cauda (also
cōda ) “tail (of an animal or scorpion),” also “penis.”
The first recorded meaning of queue in English, from Old French, dates from the late 15th century and meant “a band of parchment attached to a document and bearing a seal.” The historical sense “a braid of hair worn hanging down from the head or a wig,” dates from the 18th century. The very modern computing sense of queue “a sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action” dates from the 1960s.
The first recorded meaning of queue in English, from Old French, dates from the late 15th century and meant “a band of parchment attached to a document and bearing a seal.” The historical sense “a braid of hair worn hanging down from the head or a wig,” dates from the 18th century. The very modern computing sense of queue “a sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action” dates from the 1960s.
OTHER WORDS FROM queue
queu·er, nounWords nearby queue
Example sentences from the Web for queue
British Dictionary definitions for queue
queue
/ (kjuː) mainly British /
noun
a line of people, vehicles, etc, waiting for something
a queue at the theatre
computing
a list in which entries are deleted from one end and inserted at the other
a pigtail
jump the queue See queue-jump
verb queues, queuing, queueing or queued
(intr often foll by up)
to form or remain in a line while waiting
computing
to arrange (a number of programs) in a predetermined order for accessing by a computer
US and Canadian word:
line
Word Origin for queue
C16 (in the sense: tail); C18 (in the sense: pigtail): via French from Latin
cauda tail