Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A castrated man, traditionally employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.
- noun Often Offensive A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed.
- noun Derogatory An ineffectual or powerless man.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make a eunuch of; castrate, as a man.
- noun In the East, a chamberlain; a keeper of the bedchamber, or of the women in a large or polygamous household: an office generally (and in the latter case always) held by castrated men, and often bringing to its holders in princely houses great political influence.
- noun Hence, in general Any castrated male of the human species.
- Unproductive; barren.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A male of the human species castrated; commonly, one of a class of such persons, in Oriental countries, having charge of the women's apartments. Some of them, in former times, gained high official rank.
- transitive verb To make a eunuch of; to castrate. as a man.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun also used figuratively A
castrated human male. - noun also used figuratively A
sterilized human female (cf. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer). - noun Such a man employed as
harem guard or in certain (mainly Eastern) monarchies (e.g. late Roman and Chinese Empires) as court or state officials.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The term eunuch is used in India to describe transvestites, transsexuals and others who identify themselves as neither male nor female but as a members of a third gender.
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The term eunuch, or hijra, is used in India to describe transvestites, transsexuals and others who identify themselves as neither male nor female but as a member of a third gender.
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The book arrives as a museum dedicated to eunuchs, built around the tomb of a 16th century eunuch, is undergoing a major expansion.
Boing Boing 2009
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As they were talking, there came an eunuch from the Commander of the Faithful, in quest of Kut al-Kulub, for, when he knew that she was in the house of Ibn al-Kirnas, he could not endure the severance, but bade bring her forthwith.
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But as the jealous and dissolute temperament of the East required this charge to be in the hands of persons who had been deprived of their virility, the word eunuch came naturally to denote persons in that condition.
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When he had made an end of eating, he called the eunuch, who washed his hands.
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume III Anonymous 1879
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So he called the eunuch and bade him go forthright to his Vizier and bid him assemble the whole of the troops and cause them don their arms and mount their horses.
The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night, Volume IV Anonymous 1879
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The eunuch is baptized in the name of Christ, v. 36-38.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume VI (Acts to Revelation) 1721
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The modern meaning of the word eunuch is a castrated male.
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The modern meaning of the word eunuch is a castrated male.
madmouth commented on the word eunuch
According to mythic martial arts films of the early 90s, they're evil, immaculately turned out, and extremely likely to take over your empire/wife.
April 15, 2009