eunuch

[ yoo-nuhk ]

/ ˈyu nək /

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noun

a castrated man, especially one formerly employed by rulers in the Middle East and Asia as a harem guard or palace official.

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Origin of eunuch

1350–1400; Middle English eunuk<Latin eunūchus<Greek eunoûchos eunuch, chamberlain, equivalent to eune-, stem of eunḗ bed, place of sleeping + -ochos keeping (akin to échein to hold

Words nearby eunuch

eumetria, eumung, Eumycota, Eunice, Eunomia, eunuch, eunuchism, eunuchize, eunuchoid, eunuchoid gigantism, eunuchoidism

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use eunuch in a sentence

Or how kicking a reaction-less eunuch in the crotch over and over again is comedy.
‘Galavant’: A Drunken, Horny Musical Fairy Tale|Melissa Leon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Christianity arrived in Sudan, about 125 miles northeast of Khartoum, with the eunuch minister of Queen Candice in 35 AD.
In Sudan a Pregnant Woman May Be Hanged for Marrying a Christian|Nina Shea|May 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a free-testosterone level akin to an octogenarian eunuch.
Reconsidering the War on Steroids|Jonathan Miller|September 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer This was the first feminist book I ever read.
Isabel Allende’s Book Bag: 5 Books That Influenced Me|Isabel Allende|April 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Even compared with his personage in Casino Royale, the 007 of Quantum is basically a grunting eunuch.
Has Bond Lost His Balls?|Matthew Oshinsky|November 3, 2008|DAILY BEAST
There were eunuchs too, black frock-coated—and the chief eunuch, an important personage who ranks very high.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland|Joseph Tatlow
Iftikhar went on, and with only the eunuch and Mary Kurkuas, the emir advanced within the palace.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis
Then at last the eunuch spoke, his imperturbable smile swelling to a fulsome grin.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis
Enough; the good eunuch Hakem thought me a true welee, and brought out one of his cagelings to see my magic.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis
The body of the eunuch dropped from her arms, lay upon the rugs, the blood spurting from the neck.
God Wills It!|William Stearns Davis

British Dictionary definitions for eunuch

eunuch

/ (ˈjuːnək) /

noun

a man who has been castrated, esp (formerly) for some office such as a guard in a harem

informal an ineffective mana political eunuch

Word Origin for eunuch

C15: via Latin from Greek eunoukhos attendant of the bedchamber, from eunē bed + ekhein to have, keep

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for eunuch

eunuch

[ yōō′nək ]

A man or boy whose testes have been removed or have never developed.