Castrate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /kæsˈtɹeɪt/

Definitions

1. To surgically remove the testicles of a male animal or person, or to weaken and diminish power or effectiveness
2. To deprive a male animal or person of reproductive capacity through removal of testicles, or to render something powerless and ineffectual
3. To surgically eliminate the testicles of a male organism ; to reduce strength or render something ineffective

Etymology: The verb "castrate" comes from Latin "castrare," meaning "to prune" or "to amputate," and it was borrowed into English in its participle form "castratus." The Latin root reaches back to "castrum," a fortified camp or fort, and the link is not obvious until you consider that the same verb covered both trimming vines and cutting away parts of a living body. The surgical sense was the one that stuck. English already had a native word for the act: "geld," from Old Norse, which still survives in the sense of removing a male animal's testicles. "Castrate" displaced it in the broader sense, so that today "geld" is mostly used for animals while "castrate" covers the whole range of meanings, including the figurative one, to make something powerless or ineffectual.

Synonyms: neuter, emasculate, sterilize, deprive, remove

Antonyms: fertilize, impregnate, breed, procreate, enrich