阉人 (yān rén) — castrated person, eunuch

Definition

Historical term for a castrated man who served in the imperial palace as a eunuch — the formal, literary equivalent of 太监, used in scholarly and historical writing rather than everyday speech.

noun
castrated personeunuch
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 阉人。
    Gǔ dài gōng tíng zhōng cháng yǒu yān rén fú shì huáng dì.
    In ancient palaces, there were often eunuchs serving the emperor.
  • 阉人。
    Lì shǐ shàng xǔ duō yān rén zài zhèng zhì zhōng bàn yǎn le zhòng yào jué sè.
    Many eunuchs in history played important roles in politics.
  • 阉人。
    Zhè běn shū xiáng xì jiè shào le zhōng guó yān rén de shēng huó.
    This book details the lives of Chinese eunuchs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

阉yāncastrate
人rénperson

阉 refers to castration and 人 to a person, giving a castrated person.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 阉 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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