What does "neuter" mean?
Neuter: (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.
Additional senses
- 2.(Biol.) Having no generative organs, or imperfectly developed ones; sexless. See Neuter, n., 3.
- 3.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.
- 4.(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.
- 5.(Biol.) 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.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00