eunuch

n. 太监；阉人

中文词源

eunuch 阉人，太监

来自希腊语eunoukhos, 床边侍者。来自eune, 床，词源不详，可能来自PIE*wen, 追寻，渴求，词源同 Venus. -okh, 持，握，词源同epoch, school. 后来用来指阉人，太监。

eunuch: eunuch: [15] Eunuch has no etymological connection with ‘castration’. It is simply the fact that in former times male harem attendants in Oriental courts had their testicles removed, to ensure that they were not distracted from their work, that has led ultimately to the equation of eunuch with ‘castrated man’. Literally, the word means ‘bed-guard’; it comes via Latin from Greek eunoukhos, a compound formed from euné ‘bed’ and ékhein ‘have charge of, keep’.
eunuch (n.): "castrated man," late 14c., from Middle French eunuque and directly from Latin eunuchus, from Greek eunoukhos "castrated man," originally "guard of the bedchamber or harem," from euno-, comb. form of eune "bed," a word of unknown origin, + -okhos, from stem of ekhein "to have, hold" (see scheme (n.)).
Eunuches is he þat is i-gilded, and suche were somtyme i-made wardeynes of ladyes in Egipt. [John of Trevisa, translation of Higdon's Polychronicon, 1387]
Harem attendants in Oriental courts and under the Roman emperors were charged with important affairs of state. The Greek and Latin forms of the word were used in the sense "castrated man" in the Bible but also to translate Hebrew saris, which sometimes meant merely "palace official," in Septuagint and Vulgate, probably without an intended comment on the qualities of bureaucrats. Related: Eunuchal; eunuchry; eunuchize.

1. Greek ekhein "have, hold, keep, possess, continue" => ech-, och-, uch- , hect- => synechia, epoch, eunuch, hectic, hector.

1. Most of them were led by the famous eunuch admiral Cheng - ho.: 大多数使团都是由著名的舰队司令,宦官郑和率领的.

2. Scholars scorn each other, culture the eunuch, flatters elegant, charming custom.: 文人相轻、文化太监、媚雅、媚俗.

3. He's a muscled, tattooed eunuch who's looking for a hidden Masonic pyramid.: 他是一个肌肉发达, 身上布满纹身的阉人,正苦寻一座神秘的共济会金字塔.