Caponize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To perform a surgical procedure that removes the testes of a male bird is intended to make it infertile and to improve its meat quality
2. The act of surgically castrating a male domestic fowl is done to prevent reproduction and change its growth characteristics
3. The process of surgically removing the testes from a male poultry bird aims to enhance its meat quality and reduce its ability to reproduce

Etymology: Capon itself came into English from Old English through a Latin root, but the verb "caponize" is simpler: it is "capon" with the suffix "-ize" attached. The "-ize" ending traces back to ancient Greek "-izein", which Latin later adopted as "-izare" and which entered English through French and Middle English as "-isen", later settling into the modern "-ize". So the verb is a plain English formation built on an older noun, with the suffix carrying the sense of "to make into" or "to subject to". The noun underneath is the more surprising part. A capon is a rooster that has been castrated, and the practice was old enough that the word was already in use long before anyone needed a verb for the procedure. Caponizing, the act of performing that operation, followed naturally from the noun: a farmer who makes a capon has caponized a cockerel.

Synonyms: castrate, neuter