defecation
/ˌdɛfɪˈkeɪʃən/
noun
Origin
Latin
defaecare — to remove dregs, purify
Overview
Meaning Now
- The process of discharging waste matter from the bowels; a bowel movement.
Literal older meaning
The act of removing dregs or impurities (from a liquid).
Language path
Latin → Middle French → English
Earliest form
defecation
Earliest period
17th century
Journey
Originally a chemical and alchemical term, 'defecation' referred to the process of filtering or settling sediment out of a liquid. Over time, it was applied to biological functions as a euphemism to avoid more crude terminology, eventually becoming the standard scientific and medical term for the expulsion of feces.
Evolution
- Classical Latin
faex
“dregs, sediment”
- Late Latin
defaecare
“to clarify a liquid by removing dregs”
Prefix de- (from/off) + faecare (to make dregs)
- 17th-century English
defecation
“the act of clarifying liquids”
Adopted into scientific vocabulary
- 19th-century English
defecation
“the biological act of excreting waste”
Euphemistic shift from alchemy/chemistry to biology
Connections
Word parts
de-
prefix
away, from
faec
root
dregs, sediment
-ation
suffix
the process of
Related across languages
French
défécation
defecation
Spanish
defecación
defecation
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Related to defecation
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.