Meanings
nouneunuch (plural eunuchs)
plural eunuchs
- A castrated man.
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.
1922, Michael Arlen, “2/1/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days - historicalSuch a man employed as harem guard or in certain (mainly Eastern) monarchies (e.g. late Roman and Chinese Empires) as court or state officials.
Hence sawcy Eunuch peace, / she hath betraid me, / And shall dye the death.
c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene xiv]3 more examples
He ſhall be made a chaſte and luſtleſſe Eunuch, And in my Sarell tend my Concubines
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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 iiiI, and by heauen, one that will doe the deede, / Though Argus were her Eunuch and her garde.
c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i][describing a bas-relief] An eunuch holds a fly-flapper or fan over the head of the king, who appears to be conversing or performing some ceremony with a figure standing in front of him; probably his vizir or minister.
1849, Austen Henry Layard, chapter III, in Nineveh and Its Remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan - A man who is not inclined to marry and procreate.
- figurativelyOne that is ineffectual.
behold the Eunuch of castrated thought
2002, Sarah Kane, 4.48 Psychosis, Methuen, →ISBN, page 401 more example
Mr. Peterson really reaches for a low one when he says, "They (gays) should never commit themselves to any broader ideological movement." I am, paradoxically, a Christian, a Maxist, a Gay, and a Human Being. To be gay one should not be a political eunuch.
1976 December 11, Ronnie Allen, “No Political Eunuch”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 4
verbeunuch (third-person singular simple present eunuchs, present participle eunuching, simple past and past participle eunuched)
present singular third person eunuchs · participle present eunuching · participle past eunuched · past eunuched
- datedtransitiveTo castrate.
- datedfigurativelytransitiveTo render ineffectual.
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekεὐνή (eunḗ)
- Proto-Indo-European*seǵʰ-
- Proto-Hellenic*hékʰō
- Ancient Greekἔχω (ékhō)
- Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-
- Proto-Indo-European*wéǵʰeti
- Proto-Hellenic*wékʰō
- Ancient Greekϝέχω (wékhō)?
- Ancient Greekεὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos)
- Latineunūchus
- Middle Englisheunuk
- Englisheunuch
From Middle English eunuk, from Middle French eunuque, from Latin eunūchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos), from εὐνή (eunḗ, “bed”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, keep”). Originally probably used to refer to a bed chamber attendant.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος, σπάδων
- εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos)castrated man
- σπάδων (spádōn)castrated man
Arabic خَصِيّ, مَخْصِيّ
- خَصِيّ (ḵaṣiyy)castrated man
- مَخْصِيّ (maḵṣiyy)castrated man
Bulgarian скопе́ц, е́внух
- скопе́ц (skopéc)castrated man
- е́внух (évnuh)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Catalan eunuc
- eunuccastrated man
Chinese Mandarin 閹人 /阉人, 公公
- 閹人 /阉人 (yānrén)castrated man
- 公公 (gōnggong)castrated man
- 宦官 (huànguān)castrated man
- 閹宦 /阉宦 (yānhuàn)castrated man
- 閹人 /阉人 (yānrén)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- 太監 /太监 (tàijiàn)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- 宦官 (huànguān)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- 寺人 (sìrén)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- 閹宦 /阉宦 (yānhuàn)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Czech eunuch, kastrát
- eunuchcastrated man
- kastrátcastrated man
- kleštěneccastrated man
- kastrátsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- eunuchsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Danish eunuk
- eunukcastrated man
Dutch eunuch, castraat
- eunuchcastrated man
- castraatcastrated man
- eunuchsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Esperanto kastrito, eŭnuko
- kastritocastrated man
- eŭnukosuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Finnish eunukki, ruuna
- eunukkicastrated man
- ruunacastrated man
- eunukkisuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
French eunuque, castrat
- eunuquecastrated man
- castratcastrated man
- eunuquesuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
German Eunuch, Kastrat
- Eunuchcastrated man
- Kastratcastrated man
- Eunuchsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Greek ευνούχος, ευνούχος
- ευνούχος (evnoúchos)castrated man
- ευνούχος (evnoúchos)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Hebrew סָרִיס, סָרִיס
- סָרִיס (sarís)castrated man
- סָרִיס (sarís)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Hindi हिजड़ा, हिजड़ा
- हिजड़ा (hijṛā)castrated man
- हिजड़ा (hijṛā)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Hungarian eunuch, eunuch
- eunuchcastrated man
- eunuchsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Icelandic geldingur
- geldingurcastrated man
Irish coillteán
- coillteáncastrated man
Italian eunuco, eunuco
- eunucocastrated man
- eunucosuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Japanese 宦官
- 宦官 (kangan)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Korean 고자, 환관
- 고자 (goja)castrated man
- 환관 (hwan'gwan)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
- 내시 (naesi)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Latin spadō, eunuchus
- spadōcastrated man
- eunuchuscastrated man
- thlasiascastrated man
Lithuanian kastrãtas, eunùchas
- kastrãtascastrated man
- eunùchassuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Malay sida-sida
- sida-sidacastrated man
Māori unaka, unaka
- unakacastrated man
- unakasuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Norwegian Bokmål evnukk
- evnukkcastrated man
Persian خواجه, خواجه
- خواجه (xwâje)castrated man
- خواجه (xwâje)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Polish eunuch, kastrat
- eunuchcastrated man
- kastratcastrated man
- rzezanieccastrated man
- trzebienieccastrated man
- eunuchsuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Portuguese eunuco, eunuco
- eunucocastrated man
- eunucosuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Russian е́внух, скопе́ц
- е́внух (jévnux)castrated man
- скопе́ц (skopéc)castrated man
- кастра́т (kastrát)castrated man
- е́внух (jévnux)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Spanish eunuco, eunuco
- eunucocastrated man
- eunucosuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Swahili towashi
- towashicastrated man
Swedish eunuck, eunuck
- eunuckcastrated man
- eunucksuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Tagalog bating, eunuko
- batingcastrated man
- eunukocastrated man
Thai ชันที, ขันที
- ชันทีcastrated man
- ขันที (kǎn-tii)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Turkish hadım, husyesiz
- hadımcastrated man
- husyesizcastrated man
- haremağasısuch a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Ukrainian є́внух, скопе́ць
- є́внух (jévnux)castrated man
- скопе́ць (skopécʹ)castrated man
- кастра́т (kastrát)castrated man
- є́внух (jévnux)such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state
Cite this entry
APA
eunuch. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eunuch
MLA
“eunuch.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eunuch. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eunuch,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eunuch.
Source: eunuch on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.