▪ I. castrate, a. (n.)
(ˈkæstreɪt)
[ad. L. castrāt-us pa. pple. of castrāre; see the vb.]
A. adj. Castrated. Obs. exc. in Bot.
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Androgynus, an Hermaphrodite, or one who is Castrate or Effeminate. 1754 Watson in Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 873 But the castrate fish..were always in season. 1880 Gray Bot. Text-bk. 401 Castrate, said of a stamen which wants the anther. |
B. n. A castrated man, a eunuch. arch. (= F. castrat, It. castrato.)
| 1639 G. Daniel Ecclus. xxx. 61 The Imperfect Castrate. 1691 T. Heyrick Misc. Poems 31 The Castrate's sneaking looks. 1782 J. Elphinston Martial i. iii. 3 No castrate or suborner shall there be: Erewhile the castrate was the debauchee. 1905 W. G. Holmes Justinian & Theod. I. 134 note, The emperor cannot even uncover his head without the castrates closing round him to intercept the gaze of rude mankind. |
▪ II. castrate, v.
(ˈkæstreɪt)
[f. L. castrāt- ppl. stem of castrāre to castrate, prune, expurgate, deprive of vigour, etc.: see -ate3.]
1. trans. To remove the testicles of; to geld, emasculate.
| 1613 [see castrated]. 1633 Bp. Morton Discharge Imput. Romish Party 138 (T.) Origen—having read that scripture, ‘There be some that castrate themselves for the kingdom of God’..he did castrate himself. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 113 To eunuchate or castrate themselves. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & Fall II. 90. 1831 Youatt Horse ii. (1847) 19 The Barb.—They are never castrated, for a Mussulman would not mutilate..the beast of the Prophet. |
b. Bot. To remove the anthers (or the pistil) of (a flower) before fecundation. (Syd. Soc. Lex.)
| 1859 Darwin Orig. Spec. ix. (1873) 236 A plant, to be hybridised, must be castrated. |
† 2. Gardening. To prune, remove superfluous suckers from. Obs.
| 1658 Evelyn Fr. Gard. (1675) 255 When your strawberries shoot their strings, you must castrate them. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Castrating..in speaking of melons and cucumbers..signifies the same with pruning or pinching. |
3. transf. and fig. To deprive of vigour, force, or vitality; to mortify.
| 1554 T. Martin Marriage of Priestes Y i b (T.) Ye castrate the desires of the flesh. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 181 Every subsequent action of that Parliament did castrate their hope. 1670 W. Simpson Hydrol. Ess. 123 Whether they [mineral waters] do not..sooner precipitate an Ocre to the bottom, nor sooner become castrated thereby. a 1930 D. H. Lawrence Last Poems (1932) 163 The Victorians..Successfully castrating the body politic. |
† b. To mutilate, ‘cut down’. Obs.
| 1728 Morgan Algiers I. iii. 56 The noble kingdom of Numidia was so castrated, that it dwindled away to the Eastern Province of the Algerines. |
4. To mutilate (a book, etc.) by removing a sheet or portion of it; esp. to remove obscene or objectionable passages from; to expurgate.
| 1627 Let. in Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) I. 295 An Oxford man..had his sermon perused and castrated before he came there. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 179 ¶5 The following letter, which I have castrated in some places. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Castrating a book. 1753 Warburton Lett. Late Prelate (1809) 136 The letter..is castrated of one of its most curious anecdotes. 1791 Boswell Johnson (1816) III. 210 Talking of Rochester's Poems, he said, he had given them to Mr. Steevens to castrate for the edition of the poets. 1816 Southey Lett. (1856) III. 33 Gifford is at his old work of castrating my reviews. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets xi. 344 The monk Planudes amended, castrated..and remodelled..the Greek Anthology of Cephalas. |
Hence ˈcastrated ppl. a. (in lit. and fig. senses).
| 1613 R. C. Table Alph. (ed. 3), Castrated, gelded, diminished. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 124 Castrated animals..are longer lived. 1791–1824 D'Israeli Cur. Lit., Bible prohib., This castrated copy of the Bible. 1828 Southey Ess. (1832) II. 417. 1871 Darwin Desc. Man II. xvii. 247 The horns are not developed..in the castrated male. |