eunuch
pronunciation
How to pronounce eunuch in British English:
UK [ˈju:nək]
How to pronounce eunuch in American English:
US [ˈjunək]
-
- Noun:
- a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction
Word Origin
- eunuch
- eunuch: [15] Eunuch has no etymological connection with ‘castration’. It is simply the fact that in former times male harem attendants in Oriental courts had their testicles removed, to ensure that they were not distracted from their work, that has led ultimately to the equation of eunuch with ‘castrated man’. Literally, the word means ‘bed-guard’; it comes via Latin from Greek eunoukhos, a compound formed from euné ‘bed’ and ékhein ‘have charge of, keep’.
- eunuch (n.)
- "castrated man," late 14c., from Middle French eunuque and directly from Latin eunuchus, from Greek eunoukhos "castrated man," originally "guard of the bedchamber or harem," from euno-, comb. form of eune "bed," a word of unknown origin, + -okhos, from stem of ekhein "to have, hold" (see scheme (n.)). Eunuches is he þat is i-gilded, and suche were somtyme i-made wardeynes of ladyes in Egipt. [John of Trevisa, translation of Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387] Harem attendants in Oriental courts and under the Roman emperors were charged with important affairs of state. The Greek and Latin forms of the word were used in the sense "castrated man" in the Bible but also to translate Hebrew saris, which sometimes meant merely "palace official," in Septuagint and Vulgate, probably without an intended comment on the qualities of bureaucrats. Related: Eunuchal; eunuchry; eunuchize.
Example
- 1. China 's last eunuch spills sex secrets
- 2. 3 / 13 Ahmedabad , india : a hijra or eunuch attends a wedding ceremony
- 3. There is also a long tradition of eunuch culture .
- 4. Cai lun was a court eunuch who devised a procedure based on mashed tree bark , linen , hemp and fishnets submerged in water and left to dry / bleach naturally in the sun .
- 5. It was a meditation on the malaise brought on by censorship . " Chinese writing exhibits symptoms of a mental disorder , " he planned to say . " This is castrated writing . I am a proactive eunuch , I castrate myself even before the surgeon raises his scalpel . "