# 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: /ˈjuː.nək/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Hyphenation: eu‧nuch

### Noun

eunuch (plural eunuchs)
* 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.
* 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
* (in translations of ancient texts) A man who is not inclined to marry and procreate.
* (figurative) One that is ineffectual.
** 1976 December 11, Ronnie Allen, “No Political Eunuch”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 24, page 4: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.

#### Usage notes

* While the most common form is a eunuch, the form an eunuch (presumably with an appropriate pronunciation) is occasionally seen.
** 1849, Austen Henry Layard, chapter III, in Nineveh and Its Remains: with an account of a visit to the Chaldean Christians of Kurdistan:[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.

#### Synonyms

* gelding

#### Derived terms

* eunuched
* eunuch flute
* eunuchism
* eunuchize
* eunuchlike
* eunuchry

#### Translations

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

### Verb

eunuch (third-person singular simple present eunuchs, present participle eunuching, simple past and past participle eunuched)
* To castrate
* (figurative) To render ineffectual.

### See also

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

## Czech
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin eunūchus, from Ancient Greek εὐνοῦχος (eunoûkhos).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɛu̯nux]
* Hyphenation: eu‧nuch

### Noun

eunuch m anim (relational adjective eunušský)
* eunuch (castrated man)
    Synonyms: kleštěnec, kastrát

#### Related terms

* eunuchoid
* eunuchoidismus

### Further reading

* “eunuch”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
* “eunuch”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
* “eunuch”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

## Dutch
### Alternative forms

* eunuuk (dated, superseded)

### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /œy̯ˈnʏx/, /œy̯ˈnyx/, /øː-/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: eu‧nuch
* Rhymes: -ʏx

### Noun

eunuch m (plural eunuchen, diminutive eunuchje n)
* a eunuch (castrated man)
* a eunuch (castrated male harem guard)

#### Descendants

* Afrikaans: eunug

## 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”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɛunuxː]
* Hyphenation: eu‧nuch
* Rhymes: -uxː, -ux

### Noun

eunuch (plural eunuchok)
* eunuch (a castrated human male)
* eunuch (a harem guard)

#### Declension
### References

* ↑ 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”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
* eunuch in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin eunūchus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛw.nux/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛwnux
* Syllabification: eu‧nuch

### Noun

eunuch m pers
* castrato, eunuch (castrated human male)
    Synonyms: kastrat, rzezaniec, trzebieniec
* (historical) eunuch (such a man who was harem guard or in Middle Eastern courts under Roman Emperors, important officials of the state)
* (derogatory) impotent (person incapable of taking a particular type of action that the situation requires)
    Synonym: impotent

#### Derived terms

* eunuchoid

#### Related terms

* eunuchoidyzm

### Further reading

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