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neuter

See also: Neuter

Contents

EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

  • (abbreviation, grammar): n., ntr.

EtymologyEdit

Latin, from ne ‎(“not”) + uter ‎(“whether”); compare English whether and neither.

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

neuter ‎(not comparable)

  1. (archaic) Neither the one thing nor the other; on neither side; impartial; neutral.
    • (Can we date this quote?) South:
      In all our undertakings God will be either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter.
  2. (grammar) Having a form which is not masculine nor feminine; or having a form which is not of common gender
    a neuter noun; the neuter definite article; a neuter termination; the neuter gender
  3. (grammar) Intransitive
    a neuter verb
  4. (biology) Sexless: having no or imperfectly developed sex organs.

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

grammar: intransitive — See also translations at : intransitive
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

NounEdit

neuter ‎(plural neuters)

  1. (biology) An organism, either vegetable or animal, which at its maturity has no generative organs, or but imperfectly developed ones, as a plant without stamens or pistils, as the garden Hydrangea; especially, one of the imperfectly developed females of certain social insects, as of the ant and the common honeybee, which perform the labors of the community, and are called workers.
  2. A person who takes no part in a contest; someone remaining neutral.
  3. (grammar) The neuter gender.
  4. (grammar) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words.
  5. (grammar) An intransitive verb or state-of-being verb.
    • 1820, M. Santagnello, A Dictionary of the Peculiarities of the Italian Language, G. and W. B. Whittaker, page 185:
      Make one do, or act (to), fare fare, fare agire, with an accusative when the verb is a neuter, and with a dative when otherwise.
    • 1847, Brian Houghton Hodgson, Essay the First; On the Kocch, Bódo and Dhimál Tribes, in Three Parts, J. Thomas, page 119:
      Compound verbs other than those already spoken of whereby neuters are made active, are very rare, as I have already hinted under the head of nouns.
    • 1971, Harry Hoijer, “Athapaskan Morphology”, in Jesse O. Sawyer (editor), Studies in American Indian Languages, University of California Press (1973), ISBN 978-0-520-02525-7, page 130:
      In all the Apachean languages, verbs are divided into two major categories, neuters and actives, each of which may be further divided into intransitives, transitives, and passives.

QuotationsEdit

TranslationsEdit

grammar: intransitive verb — See also translations at : intransitive verb
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

VerbEdit

neuter ‎(third-person singular simple present neuters, present participle neutering, simple past and past participle neutered)

  1. To remove sex organs from an animal to prevent it from having offspring; to castrate or spay, particularly as applied to domestic animals.
  2. To rid of sexuality
    • 2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The Onion AV Club[1]:
      The neutering extends to Believe’s guest stars, with warm-and-fuzzy verses from Ludacris (“I love everything about you / You’re imperfectly perfect”), Big Sean (“I don’t know if this makes sense, but you’re my hallelujah”), Nicki Minaj (who at least squeaks a “bitches” into her verse), and especially Drake, whose desire to hug and kiss the object of his affection on “Right Here” is reminiscent of The Red Hot Chili Peppers on Krusty’s Comeback Special.

SynonymsEdit

TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

EtymologyEdit

From ne ‎(“not”) + uter ‎(“either”).

PronunciationEdit

AdjectiveEdit

neuter m ‎(feminine neutra, neuter neutrum); first/second declension

  1. neuter, neither
  2. (grammar) neuter (gender)
  3. (grammar) neuter, intransitive (of a verb)

InflectionEdit

First/second declension, nominative masculine singular in -er, with genitive singular in -īus and dative singular in -ī.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
nominative neuter neutra neutrum neutrī neutrae neutra
genitive neutrīus neutrōrum neutrārum neutrōrum
dative neutrī neutrīs
accusative neutrum neutram neutrum neutrōs neutrās neutra
ablative neutrō neutrā neutrō neutrīs
vocative neuter neutra neutrum neutrī neutrae neutra

ReferencesEdit

  • neuter in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • neuter in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • neuter in Félix Gaffiot (1934), Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
  • Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
    • this word is neuter: hoc vocabulum generis neutri (not neutrius) est)
    • to be neutral: nullius or neutrius (of two) partis esse
    • to be neutral: in neutris partibus esse
    • to be neutral: neutram partem sequi
    Note: "generis neutrius" does also exist.
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Last edited on 12 September 2016, at 23:18