Meanings
castrate1
castrate2
present singular third person castrates · participle present castrating · participle past castrated · past castrated
- transitiveTo remove the testicles of a person or animal.
If the priests of Diana of Ephesus castrated themselves and offered their genitals on the altar, it was because the phallus was the symbol of the dying body.
1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 129 - figurativelytransitiveTo take something from; to render imperfect or ineffectual.
behold the Eunuch of castrated thought
2002, Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis, Methuen, →ISBN, page 40
Synonyms & antonyms
verbedit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
verbremove the testicles of a male animal
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
castrate · noun
- Latincastrātus
- Middle Englishcastrat“(adjective) castrated; (noun) a castrated animal”
- Englishcastrate
Likely from an unattested sense of Middle English castrat (“(adjective) castrated; (noun) a castrated animal”), substantivized borrowing of Latin castrātus, perfect passive participle of castrō (“to prune, amputate, castrate”), see -ate (noun-forming suffix)).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek εὐνουχίζω
- εὐνουχίζω (eunoukhízō)remove the testicles of
Arabic خَصَى
- خَصَى (ḵaṣā)remove the testicles of
Bulgarian скопявам, кастрирам
- скопявам (skopjavam)remove the testicles of
- кастрирам (kastriram)remove the testicles of
Catalan castrar
- castrarremove the testicles of
Chinese Cantonese 閹 /阉
- 閹 /阉 (jim¹)remove the testicles of
Chinese Mandarin 閹割 /阉割, 去勢 /去势
- 閹割 /阉割 (yāngē)remove the testicles of
- 去勢 /去势 (qùshì)remove the testicles of
Czech kastrovat, klestit
- kastrovatremove the testicles of
- klestitremove the testicles of
Danish kastrere
- kastrereremove the testicles of
Dutch castreren
- castrerenremove the testicles of
Finnish kuohita, kuohia
- kuohitaremove the testicles of
- kuohiaremove the testicles of
- kastroidaremove the testicles of
- salvaaremove the testicles of
French châtrer, castrer
- châtrerremove the testicles of
- castrerremove the testicles of
German kastrieren, verschneiden
- kastrierenremove the testicles of
- verschneidenremove the testicles of
Greek ευνουχίζω
- ευνουχίζω (evnouchízo)remove the testicles of
Hebrew סירס
- סירס (serés)remove the testicles of
Hungarian kasztrál, kiherél
- kasztrálremove the testicles of
- kiherélremove the testicles of
- ivartalanítremove the testicles of
Icelandic gelda
- geldaremove the testicles of
Indonesian mengebiri
- mengebiriremove the testicles of
Irish coill
- coillremove the testicles of
Italian castrare
- castrareremove the testicles of
Japanese 去勢する
- 去勢する (kyosei-suru)remove the testicles of
Korean 거세(去勢)하다
- 거세(去勢)하다 (geosehada)remove the testicles of
Latin castrō
- castrōremove the testicles of
Lithuanian rómyti, kastrúoti
- rómytiremove the testicles of
- kastrúotiremove the testicles of
Malay kembiri, kasi
- kembiriremove the testicles of
- kasiremove the testicles of
Māori unaka, poka
- unakaremove the testicles of
- pokaremove the testicles of
- poka rahoremove the testicles of
Norwegian gjelle
- gjelleremove the testicles of
Polish kastrować, wykastrować
- kastrowaćremove the testicles of
- wykastrowaćremove the testicles of
Portuguese castrar, capar
- castrarremove the testicles of
- caparremove the testicles of
Romanian castra
- castraremove the testicles of
Russian кастри́ровать, скопи́ть
- кастри́ровать (kastrírovatʹ)remove the testicles of
- скопи́ть (skopítʹ)remove the testicles of
- оскопля́ть (oskopljátʹ)remove the testicles of
- оскопи́ть (oskopítʹ)remove the testicles of
- холости́ть (xolostítʹ)remove the testicles of
Scottish Gaelic spoth
- spothremove the testicles of
Slovak vykastrovať
- vykastrovaťremove the testicles of
Spanish capar, castrar
- caparremove the testicles of
- castrarremove the testicles of
Swedish snöpa, kastrera
- snöparemove the testicles of
- kastreraremove the testicles of
- gällaremove the testicles of
Tagalog basigin
- basiginremove the testicles of
Thai ตอน
- ตอน (dtɔɔn)remove the testicles of
Turkish kısırlaştırmak, hadım etmek
- kısırlaştırmakremove the testicles of
- hadım etmekremove the testicles of
- iğdiş etmekremove the testicles of
Ukrainian каструва́ти, оскопля́ти
- каструва́ти (kastruváty)remove the testicles of
- оскопля́ти (oskopljáty)remove the testicles of
Vietnamese thiến
- thiếnremove the testicles of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with castrate
Cite this entry
castrate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castrate
“castrate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castrate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “castrate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castrate.
Source: castrate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.