English
castrate
Castrate may come from Middle English castrat ‘(adjective) castrated’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500castrat‘(adjective) castrated’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1990castrate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500castrat‘(adjective) castrated’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1990castrate
Earliest quotation: 1990, Camille Paglia: “The castrate voice had a strange power not duplicated…”
The story
Likely from an unattested sense of Middle English castrat (‘(adjective) castrated; (noun) a castrated animal’), substantivized borrowing of Latin castrātus, perfect passive participle of castrō (‘to prune, amputate, castrate’), see -ate (noun-forming suffix)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱes- ‘to cut up, to slaughter’
chastity, caste, caries, chaste, chastise, cassation, 21 more
through Proto-Italic *kastrom ‘knife’
castle, château, alcazar, cashel, castello, castell, 18 more
Another origin of castrate
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱes-‘to cut up, to slaughter’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱstróm‘cutting tool, knife’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kastrom‘knife’uncertain
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*kastrāōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastrō‘to prune’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcastrātus‘castrated, emasculated’perfect passive participle of castrō
- Englishtodaycastrate
Today it means
noun A castrated man; a eunuch.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English castrat / castrate