neuteradj.n.

Brit.

/ˈnjuːtə/, U.S.

/ˈn(j)udər/

Forms: Middle English neutir, Middle English neutyr, Middle English newtre, Middle English newtur, Middle English newtyr, Middle English–1500s neutre, Middle English– neuter, 1500s nuter, 1500s–1700s newter, 1600s nevter; also Scottish pre-1700 1700s newter.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French neutre; Latin neuter.

Etymology: < (i) Middle French, French neutre, adjective (1420 in sense A. 1, 1380 in sense A. 3a (1766 in sense A. 3c, 1754 in sense A. 3b), end of the 14th cent. in sense A. 4b, 1550 in sense A. 4a), and noun (14th cent. in sense B. 1a), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin neuter (adjective) not one or the other, neither, belonging to neither class, neutral, of neuter gender in grammar, (noun) neither person, neither party, neither object, a word of neuter gender, in post-classical Latin also (adjective) neither active nor passive (3rd cent.), belonging to neither party or side (from early 13th cent. in British sources) < ne- not (see ne adv.¹) + uter either (of two: see utrum n.). Compare Occitan neutre, neutri, neutrin (adjective) neuter (of gender, c1200), Catalan neutre (adjective) intermediate (1492), neuter (of gender, 1575), Spanish neutro (adjective) intransitive (1440), neuter (of gender, 1492; also as noun), intermediate (1493).With the sense development compare neutral n. and adj. Compare the following early use of the Latin word (in senses A. 1 and B. 1; sometimes in apparently indeclinable form neutrum) in an English context:OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 18 De Generibvs... nevtrvm is naðor cynn, ne werlices ne wiflices.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 29 Þa oðre naman þissere geendunge..maciað MASCVLINVM on us and FEMININVM on a and NEVTRVM on um.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 121 Þa word, þe geendiað on o and ne magon æfter andgyte beon passiva, þa synd nevtra gehatene.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 136 Ælc ðara worda, þe ðus gað, beo hit activvm, beo hit nevtrvm, ælc ðæra ys ðære forman declinunge.OE Ælfric Gram. (Durh.) 204 Fif word synd gecwedene nevtra passiva, forðan ðe hi maciað heora praeteritvm, swaswa ðrowigendlice word.In Ælfric's usage in plural use as noun (in sense ‘neuter noun’, ‘neuter verb’) perhaps even taking on the character of a partially assimilated borrowing (with Old English dative plural case ending):OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 90 Eal[swa] byð on menigfealdum getele on eallum neutrum.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 246 Of þam fif þrowigendlicum neutrum cumað þreo participia.

A. adj.

I. Senses relating to gender.

1. Grammar.

a. Designating the gender to which belong words classified as neither masculine nor feminine. Of a word: belonging to this gender. Of a suffix, inflection, etc.: used with, or in forming, words of this gender. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [adjective] > neuter

neutera1398

neutrala1700

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 9^v Numeralia, as vnus, duo, tres..in þe neutir gendir beþ as it were substantiues.

c1434 J. Drury Eng. Writings in Speculum (1934) 9 82 (MED) How formist þu an aduerbe of þe comparatif degre? Of þe nominatif case, neuter gender, singuler noumbre.

a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 33 In alle Englyssh men so moche is growyne..þe variable & þe vnstable chaunge of cloþyngis &..aray, þat yche of hem..semythe for to been Newtur gender, þat is to say, þat [read of] yche oþer nacyoun þen of his owne.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 24 A latin nowne of the newter gender.

1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 101 Aliud in the Neuter gender put absolutely.

a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. x, in Wks. (1640) III The Neuter, or fegned Gender: whose notion conceives neither Sexe.

1700 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana (ed. 2) i. ix. 323/1 We used it as a Neuteral, putting the adjective in the Neuter Gender.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) In English, and other modern Tongues, there is no such thing as Neuter Nouns.

1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 111/1 In the age of Shakspeare the only form for the neuter genitive was his.

1894 W. M. Lindsay Lat. Lang. 369 The confusion of masculine and neuter O-stems.

1958 R. C. Priebsch & W. E. Collinson German Lang. (ed. 4) i. iii. 106 A dative singular in -anne (with doubling caused by j on the analogy of neuter actional ja-stems like gikōsi ‘chatter’).

1992 H. Kuhn in C. Blank Lang. & Civilization I. 613 Even ‘modern’ words like Signal, Karamell..ended up with neuter gender in German, while in Swedish they were put in the utrum category.

b. Of a verb: neither active nor passive; middle, reflexive, or intransitive. Also in extended use. (In early use also as postmodifier with plural neuters.) Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adjective] > intransitive

neuterc1450

intransitive1612

c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 38 How knowyst a verbe neutre? That at endyth in -o..and may not be construyd wyth an accusatyf case of a resenable beste, as curro.

?a1500 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 14 (MED) I kownsel ye..how this Englis schalle be chawngede, Wyt verbis newtyrs.

1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Gram. sig. C^v Of Uerbs personals there be three kinds, Actiue, Passiue and Neuter.

1658 J. Owen Of Temptation i. 16 Though temptation seemes to be of a more active importance,..in the Scripture it is commonly taken in a neuter sense.

1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iii. i. 303 That part of speech, which..is stiled a Verb (whether Neuter, Active or Passive).

1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) at Verb The Verb Neuter, which..hath such a kind of Active Signification, as is not capable of a Passive, as Curro, I run.

1720 J. Clarke Ess. Educ. Youth 100 To teach them the Difference betwixt a Neuter and a Transitive Verb.

1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 38 A Verb Neuter expresses neither action nor passion, but being.

a1831 J. Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 48/1 The neuter verb supposes an action terminating with the agent.

1891 Sat. Rev. 14 Nov. 554/2 We can understand that a small Athenian boy should commit a Datism in Latin; but we cannot see why the Roman boy should make a neuter verb transitive.

1963 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 24 248 Applied to the statue it is merely a neuter verb, signifying to be in an erect posture.

1972 Yale French Stud. No. 47. 40 The neuter verb corresponds to the function of the king, when his kingdom is at peace.

†c. neuter passive n. [compare neutropassive adj.] a verb having both a neuter and a passive character, a semi-deponent. Also as adj. Also figurative. Obsolete.In Latin grammar applied to those neuter verbs in which the perfect tense has a passive form (as audeo, ausus sum), in French grammar to those which form their perfect tense with être.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > voice > [adjective] > deponent > semi-deponent

neuter passive1530

neutropassive1530

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 107 The Latins have many other sortes of verbes personnalles,..as neuters, deponentes, commons, neutre passives and suche other.

1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rev. iii. 115) Such are our..neuter-passive Christians.

1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Num. xxiii. 2) 49 God abhors these luke-warme Neuter-passives.

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Gram. sig. b 4/1 There is another manner of conjugating neuter verbs, which, when it is used, may not improperly denominate them neuter passives.

†2. Belonging to neither of two specified, implied, or usual categories. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > occupying middle position

neutral1494

commoderate1590

neutera1591

mediatinga1729

unmarked1791

goldena1817

a1591 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 444 Thou art not God, neither art thou man, but neuter, mixed of both!

1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iv. 46 Dialectick is the Science of things true, false, and newter.

1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) Man. iv. i. 336 Obscure (which others cal neuter or doubtful Articulation).

1890 Athenæum 4 Jan. 24/1 Their samisens..were marked on the neck for a neuter third in one part of the octave... The Japanese pentatonic scale..would be minor were it not for the one indeterminate third.

a. Lacking sex or sexuality; asexual. Also: of indeterminate gender; displaying both male and female (physical) characteristics, androgynous. Frequently in neuter gender.

ΚΠ

1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) 1123 Mee as my Self: Hermaphrodite in minde, I am (at-once) Male, Female, Neuter.

1646 H. Mill 2nd Pt. Nights Search xxi. 129 A monstrous woman! to the guard we'l send her, A parboild frow, and of the neuter gender.

1763 C. Churchill Rosciad (ed. 8) 8 A Motley Figure..to ascertain whose sex Twelve sage impannell'd Matrons would perplex, Nor Male, nor Female; Neither, and yet both; Of Neuter Gender, tho' of Irish growth.

1770 Oxf. Mag. June 228/2 There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up amongst us. It is called a Macaroni.

1815 E. Quillinan Monthermer ii. 40 A more than gentleman and less than man. And yet where'er this neuter gender went..sure was It to find Friends ever warm, and beauties ever kind.

1961 W. Percy Moviegoer ii. x. 104 She labels her date a neuter person.

1982 P. Mann Eye of Queen 72 The Pe-Ellians were then, and remain today, in my mind, the pre-eminent example of the neuter gender, being neither male nor female but the equal of either.

1991 B. Aldiss Frankenstein Unbound 54 The hand which had dispatched William had been neither a female hand nor a male one, but the hand of a terrible neuter thing!

1995 A. Livia tr. L. Delarue-Mardrus Angel & Perverts xii. 183 I was already more than chaste, being neuter.

b. Entomology. Of a social insect: belonging to a nonreproductive (worker) caste; lacking developed or functional sexual organs; sterile. Cf. earlier neutral adj. 11a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [adjective] > neuter

neutral1747

sexless1757

neuter1772

1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 57 Besides these of the male and female, a third sex exists in some Insects, which we call Neuter.

1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xvii. 50 (note) The neuter ants, like those of the hive-bee, are imperfectly organized females.

1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vii. 239 Considering how few neuter-insects out of Europe have been carefully examined.

1942 Sci. Monthly July 30/2 The impregnated female [termite] laying..eggs which develop into neuter workers and soldiers.

1955 Evolution 9 172/2 A remarkable difference is seen between the degree of radiation of behavior and structure in the two neuter castes of termites.

2000 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 14028/1 All ants are eusocial, that is, they live in colonies in which a wingless neuter daughter caste cooperates to raise subsequent generations of their mother queen's offspring.

c. Botany. Lacking (functional) stamens and pistils, or other sexual organs; asexual; sterile. Cf. earlier neutral adj. 11b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having or relating to parts > of or having stamens or pistils > having neither stamens or nor pistils

imperfect1704

neutral1755

neuter1785

heterogamous1839

1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. x. 106 The first of these I call perfect floscules..and the fourth neuter floscules.

1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. 344 Florets of the disk hermaphrodite, those of the ray neuter.

1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 185 Ray-flowers female or neuter.

1918 New Phytologist 17 18 A few bilabiate neuter ray florets in Pulicaria dysenterica.

1947 Science 28 Mar. 337/1 The second [floret], pedicellate on the prolonged rachilla and perfect staminate, or neuter.

1984 J. W. Deacon Introd. Mod. Mycol. (ed. 2) iv. 64 Antheridiol is produced by ‘female’ branches of Achyla..and it initiates the development of antheridia on ‘male’ and ‘neuter’ hyphal branches.

1986 Amer. Midland Naturalist 115 191 Because the ray florets are neuter (i.e., do not set seed), the hypothesis is that the corollas function to attract pollinators to the disc florets.

d. Of a cat or other animal: castrated or spayed. Also: of or relating to such animals. Cf. neutered adj.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > infertility > [adjective] > castrated

geldedc1225

cutted1438

geltc1440

chaste1526

evirate1606

castrated1609

memberless1611

unpaveda1616

libbed1616

cut1624

eunuched1627

caponed1630

untesticled1668

castrate1704

eunuch1817

emasculated1830

eunuchal1878

neuter1893

eunuchoid1894

1893 J. Jennings Domest. & Fancy Cats vi. 47 Among the principal reasons that commend neuter cats as pets, the element of non-production is chiefly important.

1902 F. Simpson Cats ii. 30 The neuter class at good shows is often the most attractive and well filled.

1902 F. Simpson Cats ii. 53 Opinions differ as to the most suitable age for a cat to be made neuter.

1939 I. M. Mellen Pract. Cat Bk. iv. 101 One does not attempt to dominate the other, as sometimes happens with two neuter males.

1965 R. Tenent Handbk. Cats & their Care i. 13 Nowadays a female kitten is easily made neuter.

1998 Veterinary Rec. 11 July 48 A case-control study was conducted to investigate whether age, gender, neuter status, type of food,..and overall physical activity were risk factors for gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) in the great dane.

II. Senses relating to partiality, determinacy, etc.

a. Originally: †(of a person) not disputatious (obsolete). Later: = neutral n. 1a. Now archaic. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance

neuter1494

neutral1494

neuter1525

indifferenta1538

neuterlike1556

neutralizing1602

neutralist1648

colourless1793

achromatic1799

uncommitted1814

(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828

non-committal1829

non-partisan1843

whitey-brown1892

middle of the road1894

neutralistic1914

value-free1916

value-neutral1929

middle road1951

non-aligned1954

unaligned1961

1494 Loutfut MS f. 17^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) A man of peice..humble & benyng and neutre.

a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Biv As one thats newter..And couets to rest equall frends to both.

1705 in W. Fraser Annandale Family Bk. (1894) II. 219 He always set up for a newter or balsamike man.

1713 R. Steele Guardian No. 1. ⁋3 As to these matters I shall be impartial, though I cannot be neuter.

1769 E. Burke Let. 9 July in Corr. (1960) II. 45 When it came to the Question, 11 were for it; only three against. One was neuter.

1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. V. ix. v. v. 457 In some instances, interest would really be neuter.

1886 Act 49 Vict. c. 22 §4 An answer stating whether the person so served assents, dissents, or is neuter in respect of taking such land.

1938 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Mar. 1/5 You can't find men in Congress who have come to no conclusions on the TVA and there's no use looking for them... We don't want any neuter minds on this committee.

b. = neutral adj. (archaic in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance

neuter1494

neutral1494

neuter1525

indifferenta1538

neuterlike1556

neutralizing1602

neutralist1648

colourless1793

achromatic1799

uncommitted1814

(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828

non-committal1829

non-partisan1843

whitey-brown1892

middle of the road1894

neutralistic1914

value-free1916

value-neutral1929

middle road1951

non-aligned1954

unaligned1961

1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clx. [clvi.] 441 The Kynge of Aragon, and his father before hym was as neuter.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxvij It was a neuter town indifferent to both.

1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xvii. §8. 492 An opinion, that the Troians..sought for succour from Dauid, and that he stayed neuter in that warre.

1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely i. 74 When they had taken the Count of Serin, and knew that the Turks continued neuter.

a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) I. xiv. 117 The Ship he was in (though neuter) was boarded by a French Privateer.

1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. IV. 363 He supposed that the Russians would at least continue neuter.

1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War I. 582 The port would be considered neuter.

1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany xiv. 225 In the wars of Blois and Montfort the citizens flattered themselves that they could remain neuter.

1886 Dict. National Biogr. VIII. 159/2 Byron now found that many who heretofore were thought loyal upon this success of the rebels had either turned neuter or had wholly revolted to them.

1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 2924/2 Holland was neuter among the nations taking part in the World War.

c. to stand neuter: to remain neutral, declare neutrality. Now archaic and rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > be unbiased [verb (intransitive)] > be neutral

to stand neuter1548

to swim between two waters (occasionally also streams)1553

neutrize1609

mediate1612

neutralize1642

(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1830

1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xi^v Helpe hym, or elles stand neuter betwene both parties.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. ii. 362 The sword of the Magistrate cannot stand neuter.

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 343 Cicero himself..seems to stand Neuter, and pronounces on no side.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 227 Had the Scots stood neuter.

1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 308 Those who had stood neuter took this occasion to declare against them.

1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. xiv. 211 His conscience being used to stand neuter in these mental conflicts.

1894 Dict. National Biogr. XXXVIII. 88/2 The earl attempted to stand neuter, with the usual result.

1932 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Compl. Poems I. 349 Remembrance o' the past, fancy o' the future. To memory and imagination you stand neuter.

B. n.

I. Senses relating to gender.

1. Grammar.

a. The neuter gender.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form

neuterc1450

neuter1611

neutral1700

c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 33 The masculyn..is declynyd by hic.., the neutre by hoc.

1509 Longe Paruula (de Worde) sig. Aij Whan I haue two substantyues one of y^e mascu. & the other of the fe. or the neutre, the adiectyf shall accorde w^t hym of the mascu. gender.

1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. ix. 128 In wordes of three terminations..the third is the Neuter.

1654 T. Warren Vnbeleevers 105 ϕυράματος in the Neuter.

1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 110/1 The neuter is employed to denote that the notion of gender is not entertained.

1896 P. Toynbee Brachet's Hist. Gram. French Lang. 177 This suppression of the neuter..was brought about in two ways.

1975 K. Katzner Langs. of World ii. 113 The genders [in Russian] number three,..with a different declensional pattern for each (though the neuter is similar to the masculine).

1991 C. Rayner Meddlers (BNC) 56 ‘That's odd,’ he said..‘That you should refer to the child in the neuter. It, rather than he.’

†b. A neuter verb. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > other specific types of verb

vocative verbc1414

activec1450

passivec1450

substantive verba1475

neuter1530

gesture1612

nominal1666

quiescent1720

reduplicative1756

dative verb1844

factitive1845

preterite-present1859

compound verb1863

pro-verb1868

preterito-presentia1870

preteritive present1872

action verb1877

verbid1914

inversive1931

eventive1946

hypothetical1957

non-factive1970

commonization1973

contrafactive1985

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 34 All suche verbes as be used in the latin tong, lyke neuters or deponentes.

1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. A.viii^v T.[indale]..turneth..the verbe passiue into a neuter.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 4/2 Newters, whose Preterperfect tense is formed by je suis.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Verb Others..form their compound Parts by the Auxiliary Verb to be... These are call'd Neuters Passive.

1751 J. Harris Hermes i. ix. 178 Even those Verbs, called Actives,..can drop their subsequent Accusative, and assume the Form of Neuters.

1843 Proc. Philol. Soc. (1844) 1 100 In both languages most of the verbs belonging to this conjugation are passives or neuters.

c. A word, form, etc., of the neuter gender.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form

neuterc1450

neuter1611

neutral1700

1611 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 52 Giue your Rule for Neuters wanting the Singular.

1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iii. i. 303 Adjectives, which are also distinguishable into Neuters Active, Passive.

1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Gram. sig. b/1 He and his having formerly been applied to neuters in the place now supplied by it and its.

1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 24 To substantives belong gender, number, and case... Gender is the distinction of sex. There are three genders, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter.

1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 110/1 This third class [of nouns] are called somewhat incorrectly neuters.

1896 P. Toynbee Brachet's Hist. Gram. French Lang. 177 As a rule Latin neuters singular..became masculine in French.

1987 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 32 154 Second declension neuters in -um..assimilate to masculines in -us.

†2. A neutral thing. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [noun] > absence of definite stance > thing

neuter1522

punctum indifferens1825

1522 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte 902 Your cupboard that was Is turned to glasse. From gold to pewter Or els to a newter.

1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. lxxviii I do say al inflacions and appostumacions be nuters, for they may be as well exteryal, as interyal.

a. Entomology. A social insect belonging to a nonreproductive (worker) caste.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > sexually undeveloped female

neuter1772

1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 58 Each family of bees have one female only (called the queen) many males, and an almost innumerable quantity of Neuters.

1797 Encycl. Brit. VII. 348/2 The neuters or working ants which have no sexual characteristics.

1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xvii. 33 These neuters are quite unlike those in the Hymenoptera perfect societies.

1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals 31 It depends on the nutriment supplied to the female larva of a bee whether it shall become a neuter or a sexually perfect female.

1927 Q. Rev. Biol. 2 392/2 The highest types of social organization, such as occur in ants and termites, with their development of different types of neuters.

1996 Nature 19 Sept. 223/3 Our examples are drawn from the sole three ant genera for which detailed information is available out of about 15 with dimorphic neuters.

b. A castrated or spayed animal (esp. a cat). Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed > neutered animal

gelding?1380

spader1648

spading1648

neuter1855

1855 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass 29 Make short account of neuters and geldings, and favor men and women fully equipped.

1893 J. Jennings Domest. & Fancy Cats vi. 48 The neuter holds a prominent position in the show-pen.

1900 Daily News 10 Jan. 6/5 A finer assembly of Blues, Siamese, Manx, and Long-haired neuters..it would be difficult to secure.

1933 E. Buckworth-Herne-Soame Cats: Long-haired & Short vi. 32 I know of no grander sight to animal lovers than a long row of neuters at a cat show.

2002 Burmese Cat Club News Winter 16/1 My brown female neuter..has been asthmatic almost all her life.

c. A person who is, or appears to be, sexless; a person whose sex is, or appears to be, indeterminate. Chiefly in fictional contexts: a person who is neither exclusively male nor female, a person belonging to an androgynous third sex.

ΚΠ

1905 J. Davidson Theatrocrat iv. 165 Old men are like old women. Don't we know How age makes neuters of us? All alike.

1915 C. P. S. Gilman Herland xii, in Forerunner Dec. 324/1 Sexless, epicene, undeveloped neuters!

1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love iii. 43 The laugh of the shrill, triumphant female sounded from Hermione, jeering him as if he were a neuter.

1951 ‘C. S. Forester’ Randall & River of Time (U.K. ed.) ii. 15 Leaving out of consideration those who might as well be neuters as far as he was concerned—girls behind counters, tram-conductresses, and so on—the remainder fell into three, or perhaps four, age groups.

1991 J. Varley Steel Beach (1993) 64 I must say she looked more reasonable now. Neuters had always made me nervous. She had not gone overboard with the breasts.

II. Senses relating to partiality, determinacy, etc.

†a. A person (esp. a ruler), a state, etc., remaining neutral in time of war or armed conflict. Frequently in to stand neuters (cf. A. 4c). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > armed hostility > peace > neutrality > [noun] > a neutral

neutralc1449

neutrality1480

neuter1555

by-liera1572

non-intervener1937

1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebell. 426 Such of those partes as honge in the wind, as neuters.

1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccviij^v The Duke of Lorayne..had long syns couenaunted with them both, that he myght be a newter.

1636 E. Dacres tr. N. Machiavel Disc. Livy II. 328 Their agents that were with the King, agreed with him, to stand neuters.

1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 182 The first are either shut up by neuters, or blocked by Enemies.

1747 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1851) V. 146 They all stood Neuters except the French Praying Indians.

b. A person who remains neutral in controversy or dispute, or favours neither of two opposed views. (archaic or historical in later use.)With quot. 1699 cf. sense A. 4a and A. 4c.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [noun] > absence of definite stance > person characterized by

neutralc1449

indifferent1556

neuter1556

neutralist1623

neutralizer1628

interpendent1647

lie-by1675

fence-man1828

straddler1863

non-partisan1868

fence-sitter1905

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxiii. 15 These indiffrentes (or newters) that part most take, That strongest is.

1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 21 Thus thinke worldlings to haue a good excuse to hold out, and so be of neither side, but be as neuters or impersonals.

1646 J. Whitaker Danger of Greatnesse 16 He was loved of his friends, feared by his enemies, honoured by the neuters.

1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 293 Must we stand dubious and neuters between both?

1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxi. 203 A certain creed was embraced by each party; few neuters were to be found.

1814 Ld. Byron Lara ii. viii. 810 Which knows no neuter, owns but foes or friends.

1885 E. Gosse From Shakespere to Pope (1893) 86 To use his influence to collect the neuters into a body strong enough to paralyse the extreme party.

1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 2924/2 A man who takes no part in political controversies might be called a neuter.

Derivatives

ˈneuterdom n. the state or fact of being neuter (sexually or grammatically).

ΚΠ

1893 A. Kenealy Dr. Janet 136 With the bugbear of neuterdom before her eyes.

1983 D. L. Miles in Verbatim 10 ii. 11/1 German does have a second word for ‘manhood’ but it takes the side of neuterdom.

† neuterlike adj. Obsolete rare neutral.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance

neuter1494

neutral1494

neuter1525

indifferenta1538

neuterlike1556

neutralizing1602

neutralist1648

colourless1793

achromatic1799

uncommitted1814

(to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828

non-committal1829

non-partisan1843

whitey-brown1892

middle of the road1894

neutralistic1914

value-free1916

value-neutral1929

middle road1951

non-aligned1954

unaligned1961

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxiii. 96 That we all maie..cut of clerelie All vnkindnesse of newterlike indiffrencie.

ˈneuterly adv. in a grammatically neuter form or manner.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adverb] > intransitively

neutrally1571

intransitivelya1638

neuterly1774

1774 J. Barclay et al. Compl. Eng. Dict. at Emaciate Neuterly, to grow lean.

1894 A. B. Davidson Hebrew Syntax 2 When 3 p. pr. is used neuterly for it.

ˈneuterness n. the fact of being (grammatically) neuter.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form > quality or condition of

neutrality1659

neutralness1865

neuterness1899

1899 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 20 246 The neuterness of the uncompounded neuter verbal.

1989 Trans. Philol. Soc. 87 14 Indeed, the absence of gender can be regarded as criterial for their ‘indefiniteness’ or ‘neuterness’.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	neuter
释义	neuteradj.n. Brit. /ˈnjuːtə/, U.S. /ˈn(j)udər/ Forms: Middle English neutir, Middle English neutyr, Middle English newtre, Middle English newtur, Middle English newtyr, Middle English–1500s neutre, Middle English– neuter, 1500s nuter, 1500s–1700s newter, 1600s nevter; also Scottish pre-1700 1700s newter. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French neutre; Latin neuter. Etymology: < (i) Middle French, French neutre, adjective (1420 in sense A. 1, 1380 in sense A. 3a (1766 in sense A. 3c, 1754 in sense A. 3b), end of the 14th cent. in sense A. 4b, 1550 in sense A. 4a), and noun (14th cent. in sense B. 1a), and its etymon (ii) classical Latin neuter (adjective) not one or the other, neither, belonging to neither class, neutral, of neuter gender in grammar, (noun) neither person, neither party, neither object, a word of neuter gender, in post-classical Latin also (adjective) neither active nor passive (3rd cent.), belonging to neither party or side (from early 13th cent. in British sources) < ne- not (see ne adv.¹) + uter either (of two: see utrum n.). Compare Occitan neutre, neutri, neutrin (adjective) neuter (of gender, c1200), Catalan neutre (adjective) intermediate (1492), neuter (of gender, 1575), Spanish neutro (adjective) intransitive (1440), neuter (of gender, 1492; also as noun), intermediate (1493).With the sense development compare neutral n. and adj. Compare the following early use of the Latin word (in senses A. 1 and B. 1; sometimes in apparently indeclinable form neutrum) in an English context:OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 18 De Generibvs... nevtrvm is naðor cynn, ne werlices ne wiflices.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 29 Þa oðre naman þissere geendunge..maciað MASCVLINVM on us and FEMININVM on a and NEVTRVM on um.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 121 Þa word, þe geendiað on o and ne magon æfter andgyte beon passiva, þa synd nevtra gehatene.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 136 Ælc ðara worda, þe ðus gað, beo hit activvm, beo hit nevtrvm, ælc ðæra ys ðære forman declinunge.OE Ælfric Gram. (Durh.) 204 Fif word synd gecwedene nevtra passiva, forðan ðe hi maciað heora praeteritvm, swaswa ðrowigendlice word.In Ælfric's usage in plural use as noun (in sense ‘neuter noun’, ‘neuter verb’) perhaps even taking on the character of a partially assimilated borrowing (with Old English dative plural case ending):OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 90 Eal[swa] byð on menigfealdum getele on eallum neutrum.OE Ælfric Gram. (St. John's Oxf.) 246 Of þam fif þrowigendlicum neutrum cumað þreo participia. A. adj. I. Senses relating to gender. 1. Grammar. a. Designating the gender to which belong words classified as neither masculine nor feminine. Of a word: belonging to this gender. Of a suffix, inflection, etc.: used with, or in forming, words of this gender. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [adjective] > neuter neutera1398 neutrala1700 a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 9^v Numeralia, as vnus, duo, tres..in þe neutir gendir beþ as it were substantiues. c1434 J. Drury Eng. Writings in Speculum (1934) 9 82 (MED) How formist þu an aduerbe of þe comparatif degre? Of þe nominatif case, neuter gender, singuler noumbre. a1475 (a1447) O. Bokenham Mappula Angliae in Englische Studien (1887) 10 33 In alle Englyssh men so moche is growyne..þe variable & þe vnstable chaunge of cloþyngis &..aray, þat yche of hem..semythe for to been Newtur gender, þat is to say, þat [read of] yche oþer nacyoun þen of his owne. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 24 A latin nowne of the newter gender. 1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 101 Aliud in the Neuter gender put absolutely. a1637 B. Jonson Eng. Gram. i. x, in Wks. (1640) III The Neuter, or fegned Gender: whose notion conceives neither Sexe. 1700 W. Salmon Pharmacopœia Bateana (ed. 2) i. ix. 323/1 We used it as a Neuteral, putting the adjective in the Neuter Gender. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) In English, and other modern Tongues, there is no such thing as Neuter Nouns. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 111/1 In the age of Shakspeare the only form for the neuter genitive was his. 1894 W. M. Lindsay Lat. Lang. 369 The confusion of masculine and neuter O-stems. 1958 R. C. Priebsch & W. E. Collinson German Lang. (ed. 4) i. iii. 106 A dative singular in -anne (with doubling caused by j on the analogy of neuter actional ja-stems like gikōsi ‘chatter’). 1992 H. Kuhn in C. Blank Lang. & Civilization I. 613 Even ‘modern’ words like Signal, Karamell..ended up with neuter gender in German, while in Swedish they were put in the utrum category. b. Of a verb: neither active nor passive; middle, reflexive, or intransitive. Also in extended use. (In early use also as postmodifier with plural neuters.) Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adjective] > intransitive neuterc1450 intransitive1612 c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 38 How knowyst a verbe neutre? That at endyth in -o..and may not be construyd wyth an accusatyf case of a resenable beste, as curro. ?a1500 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 14 (MED) I kownsel ye..how this Englis schalle be chawngede, Wyt verbis newtyrs. 1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Gram. sig. C^v Of Uerbs personals there be three kinds, Actiue, Passiue and Neuter. 1658 J. Owen Of Temptation i. 16 Though temptation seemes to be of a more active importance,..in the Scripture it is commonly taken in a neuter sense. 1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iii. i. 303 That part of speech, which..is stiled a Verb (whether Neuter, Active or Passive). 1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) at Verb The Verb Neuter, which..hath such a kind of Active Signification, as is not capable of a Passive, as Curro, I run. 1720 J. Clarke Ess. Educ. Youth 100 To teach them the Difference betwixt a Neuter and a Transitive Verb. 1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 38 A Verb Neuter expresses neither action nor passion, but being. a1831 J. Stoddart Gram. in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) I. 48/1 The neuter verb supposes an action terminating with the agent. 1891 Sat. Rev. 14 Nov. 554/2 We can understand that a small Athenian boy should commit a Datism in Latin; but we cannot see why the Roman boy should make a neuter verb transitive. 1963 Jrnl. Hist. Ideas 24 248 Applied to the statue it is merely a neuter verb, signifying to be in an erect posture. 1972 Yale French Stud. No. 47. 40 The neuter verb corresponds to the function of the king, when his kingdom is at peace. †c. neuter passive n. [compare neutropassive adj.] a verb having both a neuter and a passive character, a semi-deponent. Also as adj. Also figurative. Obsolete.In Latin grammar applied to those neuter verbs in which the perfect tense has a passive form (as audeo, ausus sum), in French grammar to those which form their perfect tense with être. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > voice > [adjective] > deponent > semi-deponent neuter passive1530 neutropassive1530 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 107 The Latins have many other sortes of verbes personnalles,..as neuters, deponentes, commons, neutre passives and suche other. 1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (Rev. iii. 115) Such are our..neuter-passive Christians. 1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Num. xxiii. 2) 49 God abhors these luke-warme Neuter-passives. 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Gram. sig. b 4/1 There is another manner of conjugating neuter verbs, which, when it is used, may not improperly denominate them neuter passives. †2. Belonging to neither of two specified, implied, or usual categories. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > occupying middle position neutral1494 commoderate1590 neutera1591 mediatinga1729 unmarked1791 goldena1817 a1591 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 444 Thou art not God, neither art thou man, but neuter, mixed of both! 1660 T. Stanley Hist. Philos. III. iv. 46 Dialectick is the Science of things true, false, and newter. 1668 N. Culpeper & A. Cole tr. T. Bartholin Anat. (new ed.) Man. iv. i. 336 Obscure (which others cal neuter or doubtful Articulation). 1890 Athenæum 4 Jan. 24/1 Their samisens..were marked on the neck for a neuter third in one part of the octave... The Japanese pentatonic scale..would be minor were it not for the one indeterminate third. 3. a. Lacking sex or sexuality; asexual. Also: of indeterminate gender; displaying both male and female (physical) characteristics, androgynous. Frequently in neuter gender. ΚΠ 1606 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. (new ed.) 1123 Mee as my Self: Hermaphrodite in minde, I am (at-once) Male, Female, Neuter. 1646 H. Mill 2nd Pt. Nights Search xxi. 129 A monstrous woman! to the guard we'l send her, A parboild frow, and of the neuter gender. 1763 C. Churchill Rosciad (ed. 8) 8 A Motley Figure..to ascertain whose sex Twelve sage impannell'd Matrons would perplex, Nor Male, nor Female; Neither, and yet both; Of Neuter Gender, tho' of Irish growth. 1770 Oxf. Mag. June 228/2 There is indeed a kind of animal, neither male nor female, a thing of the neuter gender, lately started up amongst us. It is called a Macaroni. 1815 E. Quillinan Monthermer ii. 40 A more than gentleman and less than man. And yet where'er this neuter gender went..sure was It to find Friends ever warm, and beauties ever kind. 1961 W. Percy Moviegoer ii. x. 104 She labels her date a neuter person. 1982 P. Mann Eye of Queen 72 The Pe-Ellians were then, and remain today, in my mind, the pre-eminent example of the neuter gender, being neither male nor female but the equal of either. 1991 B. Aldiss Frankenstein Unbound 54 The hand which had dispatched William had been neither a female hand nor a male one, but the hand of a terrible neuter thing! 1995 A. Livia tr. L. Delarue-Mardrus Angel & Perverts xii. 183 I was already more than chaste, being neuter. b. Entomology. Of a social insect: belonging to a nonreproductive (worker) caste; lacking developed or functional sexual organs; sterile. Cf. earlier neutral adj. 11a. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [adjective] > neuter neutral1747 sexless1757 neuter1772 1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 57 Besides these of the male and female, a third sex exists in some Insects, which we call Neuter. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xvii. 50 (note) The neuter ants, like those of the hive-bee, are imperfectly organized females. 1859 C. Darwin Origin of Species vii. 239 Considering how few neuter-insects out of Europe have been carefully examined. 1942 Sci. Monthly July 30/2 The impregnated female [termite] laying..eggs which develop into neuter workers and soldiers. 1955 Evolution 9 172/2 A remarkable difference is seen between the degree of radiation of behavior and structure in the two neuter castes of termites. 2000 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97 14028/1 All ants are eusocial, that is, they live in colonies in which a wingless neuter daughter caste cooperates to raise subsequent generations of their mother queen's offspring. c. Botany. Lacking (functional) stamens and pistils, or other sexual organs; asexual; sterile. Cf. earlier neutral adj. 11b. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > [adjective] > having or relating to parts > of or having stamens or pistils > having neither stamens or nor pistils imperfect1704 neutral1755 neuter1785 heterogamous1839 1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. x. 106 The first of these I call perfect floscules..and the fourth neuter floscules. 1849 J. H. Balfour Man. Bot. 344 Florets of the disk hermaphrodite, those of the ray neuter. 1870 J. D. Hooker Student's Flora Brit. Islands 185 Ray-flowers female or neuter. 1918 New Phytologist 17 18 A few bilabiate neuter ray florets in Pulicaria dysenterica. 1947 Science 28 Mar. 337/1 The second [floret], pedicellate on the prolonged rachilla and perfect staminate, or neuter. 1984 J. W. Deacon Introd. Mod. Mycol. (ed. 2) iv. 64 Antheridiol is produced by ‘female’ branches of Achyla..and it initiates the development of antheridia on ‘male’ and ‘neuter’ hyphal branches. 1986 Amer. Midland Naturalist 115 191 Because the ray florets are neuter (i.e., do not set seed), the hypothesis is that the corollas function to attract pollinators to the disc florets. d. Of a cat or other animal: castrated or spayed. Also: of or relating to such animals. Cf. neutered adj. ΘΚΠ the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > infertility > [adjective] > castrated geldedc1225 cutted1438 geltc1440 chaste1526 evirate1606 castrated1609 memberless1611 unpaveda1616 libbed1616 cut1624 eunuched1627 caponed1630 untesticled1668 castrate1704 eunuch1817 emasculated1830 eunuchal1878 neuter1893 eunuchoid1894 1893 J. Jennings Domest. & Fancy Cats vi. 47 Among the principal reasons that commend neuter cats as pets, the element of non-production is chiefly important. 1902 F. Simpson Cats ii. 30 The neuter class at good shows is often the most attractive and well filled. 1902 F. Simpson Cats ii. 53 Opinions differ as to the most suitable age for a cat to be made neuter. 1939 I. M. Mellen Pract. Cat Bk. iv. 101 One does not attempt to dominate the other, as sometimes happens with two neuter males. 1965 R. Tenent Handbk. Cats & their Care i. 13 Nowadays a female kitten is easily made neuter. 1998 Veterinary Rec. 11 July 48 A case-control study was conducted to investigate whether age, gender, neuter status, type of food,..and overall physical activity were risk factors for gastric dilatation volvulus (GDV) in the great dane. II. Senses relating to partiality, determinacy, etc. 4. a. Originally: †(of a person) not disputatious (obsolete). Later: = neutral n. 1a. Now archaic. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance neuter1494 neutral1494 neuter1525 indifferenta1538 neuterlike1556 neutralizing1602 neutralist1648 colourless1793 achromatic1799 uncommitted1814 (to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828 non-committal1829 non-partisan1843 whitey-brown1892 middle of the road1894 neutralistic1914 value-free1916 value-neutral1929 middle road1951 non-aligned1954 unaligned1961 1494 Loutfut MS f. 17^v, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue (at cited word) A man of peice..humble & benyng and neutre. a1592 R. Greene Hist. Orlando Furioso (1594) sig. Biv As one thats newter..And couets to rest equall frends to both. 1705 in W. Fraser Annandale Family Bk. (1894) II. 219 He always set up for a newter or balsamike man. 1713 R. Steele Guardian No. 1. ⁋3 As to these matters I shall be impartial, though I cannot be neuter. 1769 E. Burke Let. 9 July in Corr. (1960) II. 45 When it came to the Question, 11 were for it; only three against. One was neuter. 1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. V. ix. v. v. 457 In some instances, interest would really be neuter. 1886 Act 49 Vict. c. 22 §4 An answer stating whether the person so served assents, dissents, or is neuter in respect of taking such land. 1938 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Mar. 1/5 You can't find men in Congress who have come to no conclusions on the TVA and there's no use looking for them... We don't want any neuter minds on this committee. b. = neutral adj. (archaic in later use). ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance neuter1494 neutral1494 neuter1525 indifferenta1538 neuterlike1556 neutralizing1602 neutralist1648 colourless1793 achromatic1799 uncommitted1814 (to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828 non-committal1829 non-partisan1843 whitey-brown1892 middle of the road1894 neutralistic1914 value-free1916 value-neutral1929 middle road1951 non-aligned1954 unaligned1961 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clx. [clvi.] 441 The Kynge of Aragon, and his father before hym was as neuter. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccccxxvij It was a neuter town indifferent to both. 1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xvii. §8. 492 An opinion, that the Troians..sought for succour from Dauid, and that he stayed neuter in that warre. 1693 tr. J. Le Clerc Mem. Count Teckely i. 74 When they had taken the Count of Serin, and knew that the Turks continued neuter. a1753 P. Drake Memoirs (1755) I. xiv. 117 The Ship he was in (though neuter) was boarded by a French Privateer. 1771 O. Goldsmith Hist. Eng. IV. 363 He supposed that the Russians would at least continue neuter. 1827 R. Southey Hist. Peninsular War I. 582 The port would be considered neuter. 1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany xiv. 225 In the wars of Blois and Montfort the citizens flattered themselves that they could remain neuter. 1886 Dict. National Biogr. VIII. 159/2 Byron now found that many who heretofore were thought loyal upon this success of the rebels had either turned neuter or had wholly revolted to them. 1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 2924/2 Holland was neuter among the nations taking part in the World War. c. to stand neuter: to remain neutral, declare neutrality. Now archaic and rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > be unbiased [verb (intransitive)] > be neutral to stand neuter1548 to swim between two waters (occasionally also streams)1553 neutrize1609 mediate1612 neutralize1642 (to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1830 1548 Hall's Vnion: Henry VII f. xi^v Helpe hym, or elles stand neuter betwene both parties. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State v. ii. 362 The sword of the Magistrate cannot stand neuter. 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 343 Cicero himself..seems to stand Neuter, and pronounces on no side. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 227 Had the Scots stood neuter. 1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 308 Those who had stood neuter took this occasion to declare against them. 1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea I. xiv. 211 His conscience being used to stand neuter in these mental conflicts. 1894 Dict. National Biogr. XXXVIII. 88/2 The earl attempted to stand neuter, with the usual result. 1932 ‘H. MacDiarmid’ Compl. Poems I. 349 Remembrance o' the past, fancy o' the future. To memory and imagination you stand neuter. B. n. I. Senses relating to gender. 1. Grammar. a. The neuter gender. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form neuterc1450 neuter1611 neutral1700 c1450 in D. Thomson Middle Eng. Grammatical Texts (1984) 33 The masculyn..is declynyd by hic.., the neutre by hoc. 1509 Longe Paruula (de Worde) sig. Aij Whan I haue two substantyues one of y^e mascu. & the other of the fe. or the neutre, the adiectyf shall accorde w^t hym of the mascu. gender. 1612 J. Brinsley Ludus Lit. ix. 128 In wordes of three terminations..the third is the Neuter. 1654 T. Warren Vnbeleevers 105 ϕυράματος in the Neuter. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 110/1 The neuter is employed to denote that the notion of gender is not entertained. 1896 P. Toynbee Brachet's Hist. Gram. French Lang. 177 This suppression of the neuter..was brought about in two ways. 1975 K. Katzner Langs. of World ii. 113 The genders [in Russian] number three,..with a different declensional pattern for each (though the neuter is similar to the masculine). 1991 C. Rayner Meddlers (BNC) 56 ‘That's odd,’ he said..‘That you should refer to the child in the neuter. It, rather than he.’ †b. A neuter verb. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [noun] > other specific types of verb vocative verbc1414 activec1450 passivec1450 substantive verba1475 neuter1530 gesture1612 nominal1666 quiescent1720 reduplicative1756 dative verb1844 factitive1845 preterite-present1859 compound verb1863 pro-verb1868 preterito-presentia1870 preteritive present1872 action verb1877 verbid1914 inversive1931 eventive1946 hypothetical1957 non-factive1970 commonization1973 contrafactive1985 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement Introd. 34 All suche verbes as be used in the latin tong, lyke neuters or deponentes. 1535 G. Joye Apol. Tindale sig. A.viii^v T.[indale]..turneth..the verbe passiue into a neuter. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Briefe Direct. 4/2 Newters, whose Preterperfect tense is formed by je suis. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Verb Others..form their compound Parts by the Auxiliary Verb to be... These are call'd Neuters Passive. 1751 J. Harris Hermes i. ix. 178 Even those Verbs, called Actives,..can drop their subsequent Accusative, and assume the Form of Neuters. 1843 Proc. Philol. Soc. (1844) 1 100 In both languages most of the verbs belonging to this conjugation are passives or neuters. c. A word, form, etc., of the neuter gender. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form neuterc1450 neuter1611 neutral1700 1611 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 52 Giue your Rule for Neuters wanting the Singular. 1668 Bp. J. Wilkins Ess. Real Char. iii. i. 303 Adjectives, which are also distinguishable into Neuters Active, Passive. 1755 S. Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. Gram. sig. b/1 He and his having formerly been applied to neuters in the place now supplied by it and its. 1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 24 To substantives belong gender, number, and case... Gender is the distinction of sex. There are three genders, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter. 1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 110/1 This third class [of nouns] are called somewhat incorrectly neuters. 1896 P. Toynbee Brachet's Hist. Gram. French Lang. 177 As a rule Latin neuters singular..became masculine in French. 1987 Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics 32 154 Second declension neuters in -um..assimilate to masculines in -us. †2. A neutral thing. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [noun] > absence of definite stance > thing neuter1522 punctum indifferens1825 1522 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte 902 Your cupboard that was Is turned to glasse. From gold to pewter Or els to a newter. 1547 A. Borde Breuiary of Helthe i. f. lxxviii I do say al inflacions and appostumacions be nuters, for they may be as well exteryal, as interyal. 3. a. Entomology. A social insect belonging to a nonreproductive (worker) caste. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > [noun] > member of > defined as social insect or association of > sexually undeveloped female neuter1772 1772 W. Curtis tr. A. Blad Fundamenta Entomologiæ 58 Each family of bees have one female only (called the queen) many males, and an almost innumerable quantity of Neuters. 1797 Encycl. Brit. VII. 348/2 The neuters or working ants which have no sexual characteristics. 1817 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. II. xvii. 33 These neuters are quite unlike those in the Hymenoptera perfect societies. 1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals 31 It depends on the nutriment supplied to the female larva of a bee whether it shall become a neuter or a sexually perfect female. 1927 Q. Rev. Biol. 2 392/2 The highest types of social organization, such as occur in ants and termites, with their development of different types of neuters. 1996 Nature 19 Sept. 223/3 Our examples are drawn from the sole three ant genera for which detailed information is available out of about 15 with dimorphic neuters. b. A castrated or spayed animal (esp. a cat). Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > domestic animal > [noun] > livestock > stock or breed > neutered animal gelding?1380 spader1648 spading1648 neuter1855 1855 W. Whitman Leaves of Grass 29 Make short account of neuters and geldings, and favor men and women fully equipped. 1893 J. Jennings Domest. & Fancy Cats vi. 48 The neuter holds a prominent position in the show-pen. 1900 Daily News 10 Jan. 6/5 A finer assembly of Blues, Siamese, Manx, and Long-haired neuters..it would be difficult to secure. 1933 E. Buckworth-Herne-Soame Cats: Long-haired & Short vi. 32 I know of no grander sight to animal lovers than a long row of neuters at a cat show. 2002 Burmese Cat Club News Winter 16/1 My brown female neuter..has been asthmatic almost all her life. c. A person who is, or appears to be, sexless; a person whose sex is, or appears to be, indeterminate. Chiefly in fictional contexts: a person who is neither exclusively male nor female, a person belonging to an androgynous third sex. ΚΠ 1905 J. Davidson Theatrocrat iv. 165 Old men are like old women. Don't we know How age makes neuters of us? All alike. 1915 C. P. S. Gilman Herland xii, in Forerunner Dec. 324/1 Sexless, epicene, undeveloped neuters! 1920 D. H. Lawrence Women in Love iii. 43 The laugh of the shrill, triumphant female sounded from Hermione, jeering him as if he were a neuter. 1951 ‘C. S. Forester’ Randall & River of Time (U.K. ed.) ii. 15 Leaving out of consideration those who might as well be neuters as far as he was concerned—girls behind counters, tram-conductresses, and so on—the remainder fell into three, or perhaps four, age groups. 1991 J. Varley Steel Beach (1993) 64 I must say she looked more reasonable now. Neuters had always made me nervous. She had not gone overboard with the breasts. II. Senses relating to partiality, determinacy, etc. 4. †a. A person (esp. a ruler), a state, etc., remaining neutral in time of war or armed conflict. Frequently in to stand neuters (cf. A. 4c). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > armed hostility > peace > neutrality > [noun] > a neutral neutralc1449 neutrality1480 neuter1555 by-liera1572 non-intervener1937 1555 J. Proctor Hist. Wyates Rebell. 426 Such of those partes as honge in the wind, as neuters. 1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. ccviij^v The Duke of Lorayne..had long syns couenaunted with them both, that he myght be a newter. 1636 E. Dacres tr. N. Machiavel Disc. Livy II. 328 Their agents that were with the King, agreed with him, to stand neuters. 1665 T. H. Exact Surv. Affaires Netherlands 182 The first are either shut up by neuters, or blocked by Enemies. 1747 in Colonial Rec. Pennsylvania (1851) V. 146 They all stood Neuters except the French Praying Indians. b. A person who remains neutral in controversy or dispute, or favours neither of two opposed views. (archaic or historical in later use.)With quot. 1699 cf. sense A. 4a and A. 4c. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [noun] > absence of definite stance > person characterized by neutralc1449 indifferent1556 neuter1556 neutralist1623 neutralizer1628 interpendent1647 lie-by1675 fence-man1828 straddler1863 non-partisan1868 fence-sitter1905 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxiii. 15 These indiffrentes (or newters) that part most take, That strongest is. 1602 W. Watson Decacordon Ten Quodlibeticall Questions 21 Thus thinke worldlings to haue a good excuse to hold out, and so be of neither side, but be as neuters or impersonals. 1646 J. Whitaker Danger of Greatnesse 16 He was loved of his friends, feared by his enemies, honoured by the neuters. 1699 R. Bentley Diss. Epist. Phalaris (new ed.) 293 Must we stand dubious and neuters between both? 1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. II. xxxi. 203 A certain creed was embraced by each party; few neuters were to be found. 1814 Ld. Byron Lara ii. viii. 810 Which knows no neuter, owns but foes or friends. 1885 E. Gosse From Shakespere to Pope (1893) 86 To use his influence to collect the neuters into a body strong enough to paralyse the extreme party. 1927–9 H. Wheeler Waverley Children's Dict. V. 2924/2 A man who takes no part in political controversies might be called a neuter. Derivatives ˈneuterdom n. the state or fact of being neuter (sexually or grammatically). ΚΠ 1893 A. Kenealy Dr. Janet 136 With the bugbear of neuterdom before her eyes. 1983 D. L. Miles in Verbatim 10 ii. 11/1 German does have a second word for ‘manhood’ but it takes the side of neuterdom. † neuterlike adj. Obsolete rare neutral. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > judgement or decision > absence of prejudice > [adjective] > taking neutral stance neuter1494 neutral1494 neuter1525 indifferenta1538 neuterlike1556 neutralizing1602 neutralist1648 colourless1793 achromatic1799 uncommitted1814 (to stand or sit) on or upon the fence1828 non-committal1829 non-partisan1843 whitey-brown1892 middle of the road1894 neutralistic1914 value-free1916 value-neutral1929 middle road1951 non-aligned1954 unaligned1961 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxiii. 96 That we all maie..cut of clerelie All vnkindnesse of newterlike indiffrencie. ˈneuterly adv. in a grammatically neuter form or manner. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > a part of speech > verb > [adverb] > intransitively neutrally1571 intransitivelya1638 neuterly1774 1774 J. Barclay et al. Compl. Eng. Dict. at Emaciate Neuterly, to grow lean. 1894 A. B. Davidson Hebrew Syntax 2 When 3 p. pr. is used neuterly for it. ˈneuterness n. the fact of being (grammatically) neuter. ΘΚΠ the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > gender > [noun] > neuter word or form > quality or condition of neutrality1659 neutralness1865 neuterness1899 1899 Amer. Jrnl. Philol. 20 246 The neuterness of the uncompounded neuter verbal. 1989 Trans. Philol. Soc. 87 14 Indeed, the absence of gender can be regarded as criterial for their ‘indefiniteness’ or ‘neuterness’. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). neuterv. Brit. /ˈnjuːtə/, U.S. /ˈn(j)udər/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: neuter adj. Etymology: < neuter adj. 1. transitive. To castrate or spay (an animal, esp. a cat). Also in extended use, of a person. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > castrate geldc1225 lib1396 stone1584 caponize1654 alter1821 twitchel1826 doctor1834 neuter1903 fix1930 capon- 1903 F. Simpson Bk. Cat xxi. 237 A cat should be kept on low, plain diet..before being neutered. 1933 E. Buckworth-Herne-Soame Cats: Long-haired & Short vi. 31 Male kittens should be neutered at from four to six months old. 1967 A. Lewin Unaltered Cat iv. 119 If worse comes to worst, you can always have him neutered. 1995 Mother Earth News Dec. 14/3 For everyone's safety, can potential owners obey leash laws, vaccinate..and neuter their pet? 2000 Evening Herald (Electronic ed.) 4 Mar. The sanctuary re-homes 1,300 animals a year, and its policy is to spay or neuter pets in order to reduce surplus numbers of unwanted animals in the community. 2. transitive. To render of indeterminate gender. Also (esp. in a political context): to render harmless or ineffectual, to neutralize. ΚΠ 1972 ‘H. Pentecost’ Birthday, Deathday i. iii. 24 He neuters her by calling her ‘Ruysdale’, never Betsy or Miss Ruysdale. 1974 New Society 3 Jan. 22/1 Lord Reid saw no ground for implying in the statute any ‘right to require the person, whom it was sought to persuade, to submit to any kind of constraint or restriction of his personal freedom’. Does this neuter the function of picketing? 1986 ASTMS Industry News (ASTMAS News) Spring p. i/3 It is a stinging and sensational rebuff to a government intent upon neutering us in parliament. 1992 Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Feb. 22/4 His little voice and botched delivery together neuter anything faintly diabolical in the script. 1998 P. Gourevitch We wish to inform You xi. 153 This was rubbish, of course, but by neutering the word ‘genocide’ the new spin allowed American officials to use it without anxiety. Derivatives ˈneutering n. ΚΠ 1935 E. B. Simmons Cats xxi. 108 Neutering is really the only way, if you live in an apartment, of having a satisfactory pet. 1963 B. Vesey-Fitzgerald Cat Owner's Encycl. 39 Castration, the operation performed on the male cat, which is also know as neutering, ‘doctoring’, and ‘dressing’. 1981 Times 22 May 3/2 Worker cats needed neutering, vaccinating, worming, regular feeding. 2000 Petcare Jan. 14/3 Find out about inoculations, pet insurance, neutering and worming when you get your puppy, kitten or other pet. Puppies and kittens should already have been wormed before you buy them. This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.a1398v.1903
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neuteradj.n.

Derivatives

neuterv.

Derivatives