eunuch

eu·nuch

E0237800 (yo͞o′nək)n.1. A castrated man, traditionally employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.2. Often Offensive A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed.3. Derogatory An ineffectual or powerless man.

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

eu′nuch·ism n.Word History: Eunuch goes back to the Greek word eunoukhos, "a castrated male employed to serve the women in the women's quarters of a household and to act as chamberlain," and the Greek word is derived from eunē, "bed," and ekhein, "to hold, to keep." A eunuch is a "bed-keeper," so to speak. To avoid suspicion about the parentage of their children, upper-class men in many ancient societies would post eunuchs to guard and serve in the bedchambers of the women of their households. Nowadays, when the word eunuch is mentioned outside of discussions of history and ancient customs, it is mostly used metaphorically, in the sense "an ineffectual man." In ancient times, however, the eunuchs who served powerful people were often far from being ineffectual. Since they were privy to the personal lives of ruling families and had the opportunity to acquire politically and financially useful information, some eunuchs amassed enormous personal fortunes and rose to positions of great power and responsibility.

eunuch

(ˈjuːnək) n1. (Professions) a man who has been castrated, esp (formerly) for some office such as a guard in a harem2. informal an ineffective man: a political eunuch. [C15: via Latin from Greek eunoukhos attendant of the bedchamber, from eunē bed + ekhein to have, keep]

eu•nuch

(ˈyu nək)

n. a castrated man, esp. one formerly employed by Oriental rulers as a harem guard or palace official. [1350–1400; Middle English eunuk < Latin eunūchus < Greek eunoûchos=eun(ḗ) bed + -ouchos, variant of -ochos, n. derivative of échein to keep, have] eu′nuch•ism, n.

Thesaurus

Noun

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

Translations

евнух

eunuch

(yo͞o`nĭk) [Gr.,=keeper of the couch], castrated human male, particularly a chamberlain of a harem in Asia. The custom of employing eunuchs as servants in wealthy or royal households is very ancient; it reached its epitome at the court of Constantinople under the Byzantine emperors, from whom the Ottoman sultans adopted it. Eunuchs often rose to high position, the Byzantine general NarsesNarses
, c.478–c.573, Byzantine official and general, one of the eunuchs of the palace. He assisted in the suppression of the Nika riot (532) by bribing the Blues of the Circus (see Blues and Greens) to return their allegiance to Justinian I.
..... Click the link for more information. being the most celebrated example. In the Muslim world the use of eunuchs was far less common than is generally believed; however, the sale of young males to be eunuchs was formerly an important element in African trade. The castrating operation, which retards the development of normal male characteristics, including the deepening of the voice, was performed with varying thoroughness and with varying success. From Constantinople spread the custom of using eunuchs in choirs. In the opera seria (see operaopera,
drama set to music. Characteristics

The libretto may be serious or comic, although neither form necessarily excludes elements of the other. Opera differs from operetta in its musical complexity and usually in its subject matter.
..... Click the link for more information. ) of the 18th cent. the male heroes' roles were sung by castrati, and the papal choir used castrati until the beginning of the 19th cent. A famous castratocastrato
[Ital.,=castrated], a male singer with an artificially created soprano or alto voice, the result of castration in boyhood. The combination of the larynx of a youth and the chest and lungs of a man produced a powerful voice of great range and unique sound.
..... Click the link for more information. was Carlo Broschi FarinelliFarinelli, Carlo Broschi
, 1705–82, Italian male soprano, greatest of the castrati (see castrato), pupil of Niccolò Porpora, in whose operas he sang (1734–37) in London. Farinelli's real name was Carlo Broschi.
..... Click the link for more information. .

Eunuch

a castrated man appointed to oversee a harem. Eunuchs were known among the ancient Assyrians and Persians, in Byzantium, and later among the Turks. Because they were on intimate terms with their masters, eunuchs at the courts of Eastern potentates often attained high standing and became privy councillors in state affairs.

eunuch

[′yü·nik] (medicine) An individual who has undergone complete loss of testicular function.

eunuch

castrated guardian of Eastern harems. [Arab. Culture: Jobes, I, 530–531]See: Guardianship

eunuch

[u´nuk] a male deprived of the testes or external genitals, especially one castrated before puberty so that male characters" >secondary sex characters fail to develop. See also castration.

eu·nuch

(yū'nŭk), A male whose testes have been removed or have never developed. [G. eunouchos, chamberlain, fr. eunē, bed, + echo, to have]

eunuch

(yo͞o′nək)n.1. A castrated man, traditionally employed as a harem attendant or as a functionary in certain Asian courts.2. Often Offensive A man or boy whose testes are nonfunctioning or have been removed.3. Derogatory An ineffectual or powerless man.

eu′nuch·ism n.

eunuch

Endocrinology A ♂ with sexual characteristics and appearance of a person who failed to mature at puberty

eu·nuch

(yū'nŭk) A male whose testes have been removed or have never developed. [G. eunouchos, chamberlain, fr. eunē, bed, + echo, to have]

eunuch

A man castrated before puberty. This results in the loss of the male sex hormones and the failure of development of the secondary sexual characteristics-the beard, the deeper voice from enlarged larynx, the adult-sized penis, and the characteristic male body shape.

Acronym

Definition

EUNUCH➣Extreme Use of Nearly Universal Cooling Hardware (CPU overclocking project)

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Synonyms for eunuch

noun a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction

Synonyms

Related Words