See Also: eunuch(medicine)
eunuch(dictionary)
eunuch(encyclopedia)
eunuch(dictionary)
EUNUCH(law)
Female Eunuch, The(dictionary)

eunuch (iou)



eunuch noun & verb. OE.
[Latin eunuchus from Greek eunoukhos lit. 'bedroom guard', from eune bed + forms of ekhein keep.]
A. noun.
A castrated man; such a man employed as a harem attendant or (Hist.) charged with important affairs of state in Mediterranean countries. OE.
Gibbon The private apartments of the palace were governed by a favourite eunuch.
fig. A person or thing with some kind of incapacity, specified or implied; an ineffectual person. L16.
Byron The intellectual eunuch Castlereagh.
= CASTRATO. M18.
Comb.: eunuch flute Hist. a tubular musical instrument which produces notes from a membrane vibrated by the human voice.
b. verb trans. = eunuchize. Now rare. E17.
eunuchism noun the process or custom of making eunuchs; the condition of being a eunuch; emasculation: E17.
eunuchize verb trans. castrate; reduce to the condition of a eunuch; emasculate (lit. & fig.): M17.
eunuchry noun (rare) the state of being a eunuch M19.