Queues

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kjuːz/

Definitions

1. A structured formation of individuals or vehicles waiting for an opportunity to proceed; an arrangement that allows orderly access to services by managing the waiting process; the practice of aligning entities to create a fair sequence for receiving attention or resources
2. A series of people or vehicles arranged in order while waiting to move or be served
3. An organized sequence of individuals or cars standing in turn for a service or access

Etymology: The plural here is simple: "queues" is just the regular plural of "queue," so the real story belongs to the singular. Its root is a body part. Latin "cauda" meant "tail," and it passed through Vulgar Latin "cōda" into Old French, where "coe" or "cue" meant a tail, and from there into Anglo-Norman and Middle English as "queue." The meaning travelled a long way from the animal. A tail hanging down behind a body became, in the sense of a line of people, a file of waiting figures trailing one after another, each person at the back of the one ahead. The image of a tail extending from the front stayed intact, and English speakers simply applied it to people standing in a row. The word also has a close relative in English. "Coda," the closing section of a piece of music, comes from the same Latin "cauda," so the two are doublets, sharing a root but reaching English by different routes.

Synonyms: lines, waitlists, ranks

Antonyms: disarray, chaos