A historical slang term from the American West for a prostitute, with 'calico' — a type of brightly printed cotton cloth associated with women's dress — serving as a euphemistic stand-in. The term is now entirely obsolete and belongs to the vocabulary of the Old West, frontier saloons, and 19th-century American vernacular. Mainly encountered in historical fiction, westerns, and academic studies of frontier language and culture.
The saloon in the mining camp was known to employ a handful of calico queens who supplemented the profits from gambling and whiskey.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
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A historical Western US slang term for a prostitute, used in the 19th century frontier context. Calico referred to cheap, colorful printed cotton fabric associated with working-class women's dress; queen added a mock-regal overlay. Now entirely archaic, encountered only in historical fiction, Westerns, period research, or commentary on 19th century American slang. The calico fabric reference places the slang firmly in the frontier American West, where calico was associated with inexpensive dress rather than finery.
The novel's protagonist met his informant at a saloon frequented by calico queens and card sharks.
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(Western US, slang) A prostitute.
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