eunuch (unuk)

and a. [F. eunuque = Sp. It. eunuco = Pg. eunucho, euouæ the Greek empire, generally a castrated man); hence, a castrated man (applied also to castrated beasts and to seedle fruits); From the domestic service of the palace, and the administration of the private revenue, Narses the eunuch was suddenly exalted to the head of an army. Gibbon, Decline and Fall, xli. Hence, in general-2. Any castrated male of the human species. II. a. Unproductive; barren. [Rare.] He had a mind wholly eunuch and ungenerative in matters of literature and taste. Godwin, Mandeville, III. 96. eunuch (ū'nuk), v. t. [ eunuch all their priests; from whence 'tis shewn That they deserve no children of their own. Creech, tr. of Lucretius. eunuch a tet (ü'nuk-āt), v . t . [ pp . of eunuch are , make a eunuch, eunuch . It were an impo ible act to eunuch ate or castrate themselves. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., iii. 4. eunuchism (ü'nuk-izm), n. [ εὐνουχισμός , εὐνουχίζειν , make a eunuch, εὐνοῦχος : see eunuch .] The state of being a eunuch. That eunuchism , not in itself, but for the kingdom of heaven, is better than it [marriage], we doubt not. Bp . Hall , Honour of Married Clergy, p. 54. euomphaloid (u-om'fa-loid), a. Like species of genus Euompħalus: as, a euomphaloid shell. P. P. Carpenter. Euomphalus (u-om'fa-lus), n. [NL., in allusion to the wide umbilicus, ored capsules, which on opening disclose the seed wrap ped in an orange-colored aril. The spindle-tree of Europe, E. Europe a, the leaves, flowers, and fruit of which are said to be poisonous to animals, is sometimes cultivated, but le frequently than the more ornamental American species, E. atropurpurea and E. American a, known re spectively as the wahoo or burning-bush and the straw is a handsome evergreen species of Japan, often with fine ly variegated leaves. All parts of the European spindle E. Japonica , sometimes called Chinese box , tree are emetic and purgative, and the bark of the wahoo is used as an active purgative. See cut under burning bush. 2. [l. c.] The bark of Euonymus atropurpurea, which is used as a purgative and laxative. euonymy (u-on'i-mi), n. [As euonym + -y. Cf. synonymy, etc.] A system of or the use of euonyms; right or proper technical nomenclature. [Rare.]