eunuch

eunuch
    n 1: a man who has been castrated and is incapable of
         reproduction; "eunuchs guarded the harem" [syn: {eunuch},
         {castrate}]
    

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. Eunuch
    

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.
   [1913 Webster]
    

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.