neuter
[noo-ter, nyoo-]
- Grammar.
- noting or pertaining to a gender that refers to things classed as neither masculine nor feminine.
- (of a verb) intransitive.
- Biology. having no organs of reproduction; without sex; asexual.
- Zoology. having imperfectly developed sexual organs, as the worker bees and ants.
- Botany. having neither stamens nor pistils; asexual.
- neutral; siding with no one.
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- Grammar.
- the neuter gender.
- a noun of that gender.
- another element marking that gender.
- an intransitive verb.
- an animal made sterile by castration or spaying.
- Zoology. a neuter insect.
- a person or thing that is neutral.
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- Veterinary Science. to spay or castrate (a dog, cat, etc.).
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Origin of neuter
1350–1400; < Latin neuter neither (of two), equivalent to ne not + uter either (of two); replacing Middle English neutre < Middle French < Latin, as above
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for neuter
Contemporary Examples
She says the Humane Society would like to enforce spay and neuter laws to the point where there would be no purebred dogs left.
It seeks to neuter the criticism of any lurking Paltrow naysayers wishing to transfer their negativity to Lively.
Take that away, or neuter the violence too much, and enrollment drops.
Pro: “My God, it is intolerable to think of spending ones whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working & nothing after all.”
It's just an attempt to neuter any Tea Party support for conservative candidates who happen to have an R by their names.
Historical Examples
It is not sexless, but bi-sexual; not neuter but masculine-feminine.
Sex=The Unknown QuantityAli Nomad
Here do refers to the state, and is essentially passive or neuter.
The VerbalistThomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
The neuter verbs to taste and to smell are often followed by of.
The VerbalistThomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)
For in this case it is lawfull for no man to be a / neuter / as they call it.
At this point they cease altogether, and the central point is neuter.
neuter
- grammar
- denoting or belonging to a gender of nouns which for the most part have inanimate referents or do not specify the sex of their referents
- (as noun)German ``Mädchen'' ( meaning ``girl'' ) is a neuter
- (of animals and plants) having nonfunctional, underdeveloped, or absent reproductive organs
- sexless or giving no indication of sexa neuter sort of name
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- a sexually underdeveloped female insect, such as a worker bee
- a castrated animal, esp a domestic animal
- a flower in which the stamens and pistil are absent or nonfunctional
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- (tr) to castrate or spay (an animal)
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Word Origin
C14: from Latin, from ne not + uter either (of two)
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 neuter
adj.
late 14c., of grammatical gender, "neither masculine nor feminine," from Latin neuter "of the neuter gender," literally "neither one nor the other," from ne- "not, no" (see un-) + uter "either (of two)" (see whether). Probably a loan-translation of Greek oudeteros "neither, neuter." In 16c., it had the sense of "taking neither side, neutral."
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v.
1903, from neuter (adj.). Originally in reference to pet cats. Related: Neutered; neutering.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
neuter
(nōō′tər)- Having undeveloped or imperfectly developed sexual organs.
- Sexually undeveloped.
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- A castrated animal.
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- To castrate or spay.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.