English
excrement
Excrement comes from Latin excrēmentum ‘refuse, rubbish’, from excernō ‘to excrete’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinō‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘separate, sift’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcernō‘to excrete’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcrēmentum‘refuse, rubbish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1961excrement
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to sift, separate, divide’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinō‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘separate, sift’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcernō‘to excrete’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcrēmentum‘refuse, rubbish’
- Englishearliest quotation 1961excrement
Earliest quotation: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “The Roman poet Horace states that the excrement of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to sift, separate, divide’
certain, criminal, secret, crime, crisis, critic, critique, riddle, criterion, hypocrite, discreet, discernible, endocrine, incriminate, discernment, incrimination, rime, ridder, certitude, criterium, recrimination, 44 more
through Latin cernō ‘separate, sift’
secretary, discrimination, discretion, discriminate, discrete, discern, secretion, secrete, 8 more
through Latin excernō ‘to excrete’
Today it means
noun Human and non-human animal solid waste excreted from the bowels; feces.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / excrement