eunuch

From Middle English eunuk, from Middle French eunuque, from Latin eunūchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos), from εὐνή (eunḗ, “bed”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “I have, keep”). Originally probably used to refer to a bed chamber attendant.

• enPR: yo͞oʹnək, IPA^(key): /ˈjuː.nək/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: eu‧nuch

eunuch (plural eunuchs)

1. A castrated human male.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “2/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days‎:

     Semiramis was the first woman to invent eunuchs and women have had sympathy for them ever since; […] and women can tell them what they can't tell other men.

2. Such a man employed as harem guard or in certain (mainly Eastern) monarchies (e.g. late Roman and Chinese Empires) as court or state officials.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

     He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch,
     And in my Sarell tend my Concubines

3. (in translations of ancient texts) A man who is not inclined to marry and procreate.

• gelding

• eunuchism
• eunuchry
• eunuch flute

• castrate
• castratism
• castrato
• desex, de-sex
• gelding
• neuter
• sterilize

eunuch m anim

1. eunuch

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

• eunuuk (dated, superseded)

Borrowed from Latin eunūchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos).

• IPA^(key): /œy̯ˈnʏx/, /œy̯ˈnyx/, /øː-/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: eu‧nuch
• Rhymes: -ʏx

eunuch m (plural eunuchen, diminutive eunuchje n)

1. A eunuch (castrated man).
2. A eunuch (castrated male harem guard).

• Afrikaans: eunug

From German Eunuch, from Latin eunuchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos, “castrated man, eunuch, harem guard”), from εὐνή (eunḗ, “bed”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “I have, keep”).[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛunuxː]
• Hyphenation: eu‧nuch
• Rhymes: -uxː, -ux

eunuch (plural eunuchok)

1. eunuch (a castrated human male)
2. eunuch (a harem guard)

• eunuch in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• eunuch in Ittzés, Nóra (ed.). A magyar nyelv nagyszótára (‘A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published A–ez as of 2024)

Learned borrowing from Latin eunūchus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛw.nux/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛwnux
• Syllabification: eu‧nuch

eunuch m pers

1. castrato, eunuch (castrated human male)

   Synonyms: kastrat, rzezaniec, trzebieniec

2. (historical) eunuch (such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state)
3. (derogatory) impotent (person incapable of taking a particular type of action that the situation requires)

   Synonym: impotent

• eunuch in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• eunuch in Polish dictionaries at PWN