Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
NEUTER
neuter
(adjective) of grammatical gender; “‘it’ is the third-person singular neuter pronoun”
neuter, sexless
(adjective) having no or imperfectly developed or nonfunctional sex organs
neuter
(noun) a gender that refers chiefly (but not exclusively) to inanimate objects (neither masculine nor feminine)
alter, neuter, spay, castrate
(verb) remove the ovaries of; “Is your cat spayed?”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
neuter (not generally comparable, comparative more neuter, superlative most neuter)
(now, uncommon) Neutral; on neither side; neither one thing nor another.
Synonyms: impartial, neutral
(grammar) Having a form which is not masculine nor feminine; or having a form which is not of common gender.
(grammar) Intransitive.
Synonym: intransitive
(biology) Sexless: having no or imperfectly developed sex organs.
(literary) Sexless, nonsexual.
Synonyms
• (biological): see sexless, genderless
Noun
neuter (plural neuters)
(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.
A person who takes no part in a contest; someone remaining neutral.
(grammar) The neuter gender.
(grammar) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words.
(grammar) An intransitive verb or state-of-being verb.
Verb
neuter (third-person singular simple present neuters, present participle neutering, simple past and past participle neutered)
To remove sex organs from an animal to prevent it from having offspring; to castrate or spay, particularly as applied to domestic animals.
To rid of sexuality.
To drastically reduce the effectiveness of something.
Synonyms
• castrate, desex, doctor, fix, spay
Anagrams
• retune, run tee, tenure, tureen, untree
Source: Wiktionary
Neu"ter, a. Etym: [L., fr. ne not + uter whether; akin to E. whether. See No, and Whether, and cf. Neither.]
1. Neither the one thing nor the other; on neither side; impartial; neutral. [Archaic] In all our undertakings God will be either our friend or our enemy; for Providence never stands neuter. South.
2. (Gram.) (a) Having a form belonging more especially to words which are not appellations of males or females; expressing or designating that which is of neither sex; as, a neuter noun; a neuter termination; the neuter gender. (b) Intransitive; as, a neuter verb.
3. (Biol.)
Definition: Having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones; sexless. See Neuter, n., 3.
Neu"ter, n.
1. A person who takes no part in a contest; one who is either indifferent to a cause or forbears to interfere; a neutral. The world's no neuter; it will wound or save. Young.
2. (Gram.) (a) A noun of the neuter gender; any one of those words which have the terminations usually found in neuter words. (b) An intransitive verb.
3. (Biol.)
Definition: 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; esp., 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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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