eunuch

eu·nuch  (ynk)

n.

1. A castrated man employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.

2. A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed.

3. Informal An ineffectual, powerless, or unmasculine man.

---

[Middle English eunuk, from Latin eunchus, from Greek eunoukhos : eun, bed + -okhos, keeping (from ekhein, to keep; see segh- in Indo-European roots).]

---

eunuch·ism n.

Word History: The word eunuch does not derive, as one might think, from the operation that produced a eunuch but rather from one of his functions. Eunuch goes back to the Greek word eunoukhos, "a castrated person employed to take charge of the women of a harem and act as chamberlain." The Greek word is derived from eun, "bed," and ekhein, "to keep." A eunuch, of course, was ideally suited to guard the bedchamber of women.

---

eunuch [ˈjuːnək]

n

1. (Business / Professions) a man who has been castrated, esp (formerly) for some office such as a guard in a harem

2. Informal an ineffective man a political eunuch

[via Latin from Greek eunoukhos attendant of the bedchamber, from eunē bed + ekhein to have, keep]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

eunuch - a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction; "eunuchs guarded the harem" castrate adult male, man - an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman); "there were two women and six men on the bus"

Translations

eunuch [ˈjuːnək] N → eunuco m

eunuch [ˈjuːnək] n → eunuque m

eunuch

n → Eunuch m

eunuch [ˈjuːnək] n → eunuco

---

eunuch [ˈjuːnək] n → eunuco