阉 (yān): to castrate

Meanings

1 to castrate
2 to neuter

Characters

阉

yān

to castrate; eunuch

Examples

HSK 2

这只猫已经阉了。

Zhè zhī māo yǐjīng yān le.

This cat has been neutered.

HSK 7-9

古代的太监都是被阉的。

Gǔdài de tàijiàn dōu shì bèi yān de.

Eunuchs in ancient times were all castrated.

Tips

history

Castration was a punishment and a prerequisite for court eunuchs (太监) throughout Chinese imperial history. The practice ended with the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.

Components

radical

门 mén

gate; door

Outer gate radical - the indexing radical. Pictograph of a swing-leaf doorway. Originally 阉 named a palace gatekeeper, the eunuch officials stationed at inner palace doors. The radical preserves that institutional context; later the meaning narrowed to the act of castration itself.

phonetic

奄 yǎn

to cover; suddenly

Inside 奄 supplies the sound: yǎn → yān with tone shift. Same phonetic family: 庵 hermitage, 淹 submerge, 掩 cover. Faint semantic flavor of 'covering, suppressing' chimes with the procedural meaning. Pairing reads as 'the cover-man at the gate,' echoing the historical role of palace eunuchs.