eunuch

[ yoo-nuh k ]

/ ˈyu nək /

noun

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

Nearby words

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for eunuch

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
The eunuch returned, followed by two slaves, who bore on a bier a corpse covered with a large pall.
A Christian But a Roman|Mr Jkai
The only act of his short reign was his base ingratitude to his benefactors, the eunuch and the empress.
The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|Edward Gibbon
He could use his connection with the eunuch who was uncle of his brother's wife.
The Palace of Darkened Windows|Mary Hastings Bradley

But even the boy, made an eunuch at fourteen, will be a very defective man at twenty-five.
Self Knowledge and Guide to Sex Instruction|T. W. Shannon
Garth happily observed that for Radcliffe to leave a library was as if a eunuch should found a seraglio.
A Book about Doctors|John Cordy Jeaffreson

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

Word Origin and History for eunuch

eunuch

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," of unknown origin, + -okhos, from stem of ekhein "to have, hold" (see scheme (n.)).

The Greek and Latin forms of the word were used to translate Hebrew saris, which sometimes meant merely "palace official," in Septuagint and Vulgate, probably without an intended comment on the qualities of bureaucrats.

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]

Medicine definitions for eunuch

eunuch

[ yōō′nək ]

n.

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