Well, there is only one word for queen in German: it's just that the term can have different definitions. Although there's only one word in English and Spanish as well, one uses a qualifier -- consort/regnant. According to Google translations, QUEEN REGNANT is REINA REINNATE.
But like I said, if one were to say REINE in French or REGINA in Italian, it would be taken as meaning only the wife of a king. That's why I got to wondering how those vocabularies would accommodate foreign queens regnant.
I have never heard of another word for queen in French, Italian, Spanish or Latin, "context" or no.
"Königin"
I was thinking of the definition in context, since both France and Italy have always operated under the Salic law. Most of the German kingdoms, however, operated under the semi-Salic law, meaning that queens regnant were theoretically possible. As such, the word "Königen" (depending on the context) could mean either a female king or the wife of a king. As such, there should be no problem with any German language press referring to the late Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom by that term.
But calling her "Reine" or "Regina", however, could be misleading, as it would imply that she was the wife of a king -- which she most certainly was not.
Where do you read that reine *only* means the wife of a king? Reine means queen. Regina means queen.
Some time ago, I asked about the term by which the French referred to (say) Isabel I of Castile, given that REINE means only the wife of a king, in their vocabulary (understandably so, since France has always been bound by the Salic law). I was told that this is still the term for a reigning queen, even though it's non-applicable in their own context.
After all, they had to have known about differences in succession laws -- and in particular, aware that their neighbors in the Iberian peninsula allowed daughters of kings (in the absence of sons) to inherit the thrones in their own rights.
What, then, of the Italian vocabulary? I ask because Italy has also been bound by the Salic law: by this logic, the term REGINA is defined only as the wife of a king. But then, given that the French term can be expanded in its usage, could the same be said of the Italian term? Would the famous Spanish queen be called La Regina Isabella di Castiglia?
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