ice queenn.
/ˈʌɪs kwiːn/, U.S. /ˈaɪs ˌkwin/ΘΚΠ
the world > time > period > year > season > [noun] > winter
midwinterOE
wintertideOE
winterOE
wintertimea1398
hiemsc1450
snow-time1535
dead of winter1548
after-winter1593
back-winter1599
snow1778
ice queen1818
old-fashioned winter1829
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cold weather > [noun] > freezing or frosty weather > frost
frosteOE
glare1567
Jack Frost?1730
ice queen1818
1818 Maryland Gaz. 19 Feb. The ice queen was near with her snow-woven pall, And she-spread an immoveable chillness o'er all That once to my bosom was dear.
1838 J. H. Hewitt Misc. Poems 57 The ice-queen has touch'd every flower that we loved, And scatter'd her down o'er the fields while she roved.
1851 Fraser's Mag. Dec. 650/2 Over this world of novelty, the ice-queen throws her glittering mantle, with its pure and diamond-sprinkled folds.
2.
a. In folklore, fairy tales, etc.: a female spirit or supernatural being who rules over a land of ice and snow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > fairy or elf > [noun] > nature-spirit > other types of
ice spirit1829
ice queen1831
corn-spirit1890
corn-king1931
1831 Athenæum 9 Apr. 236/2 When on the point of dying from frost and starvation, they are relieved by an Ice Queen.
1894 Methodist Mag. June 552 Is it therefore to be wondered at, that in the old poetic days.., these fairy-like palaces and subterranean habitations of crystal were peopled with ‘ice-queens’?
1912 Booklist Nov. 131 The boy is sent for punishment to the ice queen, where his adventures continue.
1985 S. Stone-Blackburn R. Davies, Playwright xi. 203 The more superficial—and more common—view sees La Sorcière solely as an ice queen, the spirit of the land.
2010 A. Gopnik Steps across Water 164 The three sisters made us one promise: that if ever the Ice Queen found our hiding place, someone even more powerful than her would appear.
b. figurative (frequently derogatory) A cold-hearted and emotionless woman; (in later use) spec. a woman (esp. a beautiful or alluring one) who is regarded as cold or unresponsive. In quot. 1854 with allusion to sense 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > absence of emotion > [noun] > coldness or lack of warm feeling > person > woman
ice maiden1847
ice queen1854
Snow Queen1935
1854 Ladies' Compan. Feb. 77/2 I found..the children converted into little automatons..and Miss Kirby reigning as Ice Queen in the once cheerful home!
1880 B. Thomas Violin-player III. iii. 59 He must be bold or blind who tries to break through that surface of proud cold indifference. Rightly had Val..surnamed her the Ice-Queen.
1922 J. M. Murry Things we Are xi. 299 Felicia was not as calm as an ice-queen should be.
1975 Ames (Iowa) Daily Tribune 18 Jan. 7/5 Hepburn was shown as the ‘ice queen’ in the ‘Philadelphia Story’ as opposed to her very feminine role in ‘Alice Adams’.
1990 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 16 Feb. 28 Judy unwittingly repels men with her ice-queen style and wonders why she only attracts gays.
1995 Toronto Star 16 July e1 If Bardot was France's sex kitten, Deneuve was its ice queen, a cool, cerebral beauty who set her own standards.
2002 N.Y. Times 31 Mar. ii. 33/2 Think of it as if falling in love with someone who gives you nothing back. A total ice queen.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1818