Dictionary

unsex en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ʌnˈsɛks/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English sex English unsex From un- + sex.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To deprive of sexual attributes or characteristics.
   • […]she had expected the worst ever since Drusilla had deliberately tried to unsex herself by refusing to feel any natural grief at the death in battle not only of her affianced husband but of her own father […] 1935 April, William Faulkner, “Skirmish at Sartoris”, in The Unvanquished, New York, N.Y.: Random House, published 1938, →OCLC; republished in The Unvanquished: The Corrected Text, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Books, October 1991, →ISBN, section 1, page 189:
   • The Sea-king, Ravisher of Ilium Knows not her false and slavering tongue, thrust out, Lewd bitch, to lick and fawn and smile and be The secret soul of unforgiving hell! Dare it, She-devil! Unsex thyself, and be His murderess! c. 1920–1925 [458 BCE], Geoffrey Montague Cookson, transl., Agamemnon, translation of original by Aeschylus:
   • Lady Macbeth: Come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts! unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe full Of direst cruelty: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:
   • The Amazon cut off a breat to battle: How will not Woman disfigure and unsex herself to gain her end? 1859, George Meredith, chapter 1, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:
2. (transitive) To sterilize (deprive of the ability to procreate); to castrate.

Forms