castration

[ kas-trey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the removal of the testes.
2. the removal of the ovaries.
3. Psychology. the rendering or condition of impotency, literally or metaphorically, as a result of psychological means, especially the willful threat to a person's masculinity or femininity.
4. the deprivation of strength, power, or efficiency:

   the castration of our morale by a ruthless leader.

Word History and Origins

Origin of castration¹

First recorded in 1400–50; from Old French or Latin castrātiōn- stem of castrātiō “emasculation”; castrat(e) ( def ), -ion ( def )

Example Sentences

Landry has also made it legal to use nitrogen as a form of capital punishment, added medication to induce abortion on the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances and made it so judges can order surgical castration for child sex offenders.

From Salon

Agenda 47, the campaign’s policy blueprint, calls for revoking President Joe Biden’s order expanding gender-affirming care for transgender people; Vought uses even more extreme language, decrying the “transgender sewage that’s being pumped into our schools and institutions” and referring to gender-affirming care as “chemical castration.”

From Salon

Lawmakers also advanced first-in-the-nation measures like designating abortion pills as dangerous controlled substances and allowing judges to order surgical castration of child sex offenders.

From New York Times

Judges in Louisiana could order people who are convicted of sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill that state lawmakers passed overwhelmingly on Monday.

From New York Times

While Louisiana and a few other states, including California, Texas and Florida, have long allowed chemical castration, the option to punish sex offenders via surgical castration — which is far more intrusive — appears to be the first in the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and prisoners’ advocacy groups.

From New York Times

Related Words

• sterilization