eunuch

eunuch

See also: Eunuch

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: eu‧nuch

Noun

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 […], part 1, 2nd edition, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, OCLC 932920499; 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.

Synonyms

• gelding

Derived terms

• eunuchism
• eunuchry
• eunuch flute

Translations

castrated human male

Arabic: خَصِيّ‎ m (ḵaṣiyy), مَخْصِيّ‎ (ar) m (maḵṣiyy) Armenian: ներքինի (hy) (nerkʿini) Belarusian: е́ўнух m (jéŭnux), скапе́ц m (skapjéc), кастра́т m (kastrát), лягча́нец m (ljahčánjec) Bulgarian: скопе́ц m (skopéc) Catalan: eunuc (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 閹人／阉人 (zh) (yānrén), 公公 (zh) (gōnggong), 宦官 (zh) (huànguān) Coptic: ⲥⲓⲟⲩⲣ (siour) Czech: eunuch (cs) m, kastrát (cs) m Danish: eunuk (da) c Dutch: eunuch (nl) m, castraat (nl) m Esperanto: kastrito Finnish: eunukki (fi), ruuna (fi) French: eunuque (fr) m, castrat (fr) m German: Eunuch (de) m, weiblicher Eunuch m, Kastrat (de) m Greek: ευνούχος (el) m (evnoúchos) Ancient: εὐνοῦχος m (eunoûkhos), σπάδων m (spádōn) Hebrew: סָרִיס‎ (he) m (sarís) Hindi: हिजड़ा (hi) m (hijṛā) Hungarian: eunuch (hu) Icelandic: geldingur (is) m Ido: eunuko (io) Irish: coillteán m Italian: eunuco (it) Kazakh: әтек (ätek) Latin: spadō m, eunuchus m, thlasias m Macedonian: евнух m (evnuh), скопец m (skopec) Malay: sida-sida Maori: unaka Mongolian: тайган (mn) (tajgan) Norwegian: Bokmål: evnukk (no) m Nynorsk: evnukk m Occitan: eunuc m Persian: خواجه‎ (fa) (xwāje) Polish: eunuch (pl) m, kastrat (pl) m, rzezaniec (pl) m, trzebieniec (pl) m Portuguese: eunuco (pt) m Russian: е́внух (ru) m (jévnux), скопе́ц (ru) m (skopéc), кастра́т (ru) m (kastrát) Sanskrit: अक्षत (sa) m or n (akṣata) Serbo-Croatian: eunuh (sh) m Spanish: eunuco (es) m Swedish: eunuck (sv) c Thai: ชันที Tibetan: ཉུག་རུམ (nyug rum) Turkish: hadım (tr) Ukrainian: є́внух m (jévnux), скопе́ць m (skopécʹ), кастра́т (uk) m (kastrát) Volapük: (♂) homen Walloon: unuke (wa) m Yoruba: òkóbó

such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state

Armenian: ներքինի (hy) (nerkʿini) Belarusian: е́ўнух m (jéŭnux) Bulgarian: е́внух m (évnuh) Chinese: Mandarin: 閹人／阉人 (zh) (yānrén), 太監／太监 (zh) (tàijiàn), 宦官 (zh) (huànguān), 寺人 (zh) (sìrén) Czech: kastrát (cs) m, eunuch (cs) m Dutch: eunuch (nl) m Esperanto: eŭnuko Finnish: eunukki (fi) French: eunuque (fr) m German: Eunuch (de) m Greek: ευνούχος (el) m (evnoúchos) Hebrew: סָרִיס‎ (he) m (sarís) Hindi: हिजड़ा (hi) m (hijṛā) Hungarian: eunuch (hu) Italian: eunuco (it) Japanese: 宦官 (ja) (かんがん, kangan) Kazakh: әтек (ätek) Korean: 환관 (ko) (hwan'gwan), 내시 (naesi) Maori: unaka Mongolian: тайган (mn) (tajgan) Persian: خواجه‎ (fa) (xwāje) Polish: eunuch (pl) m Portuguese: eunuco (pt) m Russian: е́внух (ru) m (jévnux) Spanish: eunuco (es) Swedish: eunuck (sv) c Thai: ขันที (th) (kǎn-tii) Turkish: haremağası (tr) Ukrainian: є́внух m (jévnux) Yoruba: ìwẹ̀fà

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hindi: (please verify) हिजड़ा (hi) m (hijṛā) Japanese: (please verify) 宦官 (ja) (かんがん, kangan) Korean: (please verify) 내시(內侍) (naesi), (please verify) 환관(宦官) (ko) (hwan'gwan) Latin: (please verify) eunūchus m Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) uškopljenik (sh) m Urdu: (please verify) ہیجڑا‎ m (hijra)

See also

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

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Czech

Noun

eunuch m

1. eunuch

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Dutch

Alternative forms

• eunuuk (dated, superseded)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: eu‧nuch
• Rhymes: -ʏx

Noun

eunuch m (plural eunuchen, diminutive eunuchje n)

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

Descendants

• Afrikaans: eunug

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Hungarian

Etymology

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]

Pronunciation

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

Noun

eunuch (plural eunuchok)

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

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	eunuch	eunuchok
accusative	eunuchot	eunuchokat
dative	eunuchnak	eunuchoknak
instrumental	eunuchhal	eunuchokkal
causal-final	eunuchért	eunuchokért
translative	eunuchhá	eunuchokká
terminative	eunuchig	eunuchokig
essive-formal	eunuchként	eunuchokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	eunuchban	eunuchokban
superessive	eunuchon	eunuchokon
adessive	eunuchnál	eunuchoknál
illative	eunuchba	eunuchokba
sublative	eunuchra	eunuchokra
allative	eunuchhoz	eunuchokhoz
elative	eunuchból	eunuchokból
delative	eunuchról	eunuchokról
ablative	eunuchtól	eunuchoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	eunuché	eunuchoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	eunuchéi	eunuchokéi

Possessive forms of eunuch
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	eunuchom	eunuchjaim
2nd person sing.	eunuchod	eunuchjaid
3rd person sing.	eunuchja	eunuchjai
1st person plural	eunuchunk	eunuchjaink
2nd person plural	eunuchotok	eunuchjaitok
3rd person plural	eunuchjuk	eunuchjaik

References

1. Tótfalusi, István. Idegenszó-tár: Idegen szavak értelmező és etimológiai szótára (’A Storehouse of Foreign Words: an explanatory and etymological dictionary of foreign words’). Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó, 2005. →ISBN

Further reading

• eunuch in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

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Polish

Etymology

From Latin eunuchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛw.nux/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛwnux
• Syllabification: eu‧nuch

Noun

eunuch m pers

1. eunuch

   Synonyms: kastrat, rzezaniec, trzebieniec

Declension

Declension of eunuch

	singular	plural
nominative	eunuch	eunuchowie
genitive	eunucha	eunuchów
dative	eunuchowi	eunuchom
accusative	eunucha	eunuchów
instrumental	eunuchem	eunuchami
locative	eunuchu	eunuchach
vocative	eunuchu	eunuchowie

Further reading

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