Hypertext Webster Gateway: "eunuch"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Eunuch
literally bed-keeper or chamberlain, and not necessarily in all
cases one who was mutilated, although the practice of employing
such mutilated persons in Oriental courts was common (2 Kings
9:32; Esther 2:3). The law of Moses excluded them from the
congregation (Deut. 23:1). They were common also among the
Greeks and Romans. It is said that even to-day there are some in
Rome who are employed in singing soprano in the Sistine Chapel.
Three classes of eunuchs are mentioned in Matt. 19:12.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Eunuch \Eu"nuch\, n. [L. eunuchus, Gr. ?, prop., keeping or
guarding the couch; ? couch, bed, + ? to have, hold, keep.]
A male of the human species castrated; commonly, one of a
class of such persons, in Oriental countries, having charge
of the women's apartments. Some of them, in former times,
gained high official rank.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Eunuch \Eu"nuch\, Eunuchate \Eu"nuch*ate\, v. t. [L. eunuchare.]
To make a eunuch of; to castrate. as a man. --Creech. Sir. T.
Browne.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
eunuch
n : a man who has been castrated and is incapable of
reproduction; "eunuchs guarded the harem" [syn: {castrate}]
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