Eunuch

Eunuch (Gk. eune, a bed, and echcin, to hold) is literally a guard or groom of the chamber, but the name is generally applied to the castrated attendants in an Eastern harem. The custom of employing such attendants is of great antiquity. Singers have sometimes been made eunuchs in order to retain their soprano voices, but this barbarous custom is now a thing of the past with regard to the stage.