WordofTheDay.US

neuter

/ˈnjuːtə/ adjective

In Latin: neuter Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about neuter at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Neutral; on neither side; neither one thing nor another.
  2. Having a form which is not masculine nor feminine; or having a form which is not of common gender.
    a neuter noun
  3. Intransitive.
    a neuter verb

noun

  1. An organism, either vegetable or animal, which at its maturity has no generative organs, or but imperfectly developed ones, as a plant without stamens or pistils, as the garden Hydrangea; especially, one of the imperfectly developed females of certain social insects, as of the ant and the common honeybee, which perform the labors of the community, and are called workers.
  2. One who has been neutered; eunuch.
  3. The act of neutering (typically an animal)

verb

  1. To remove sex organs from an animal to prevent it from having offspring; to castrate or spay, particularly as applied to domestic animals.
  2. To rid of sexuality.
  3. To drastically reduce the effectiveness of something.
    Congress neutered the bill by adding an exception for big corporations.

Origin

Inherited from Middle English neutre, from Latin neuter, from ne (“not”) + uter (“either”), a semantic loan from Koine Greek οὐδέτερος (oudéteros); compare English either, English whether, and neither.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)