Etymograph

English

feces

Feces may come from Latin faecēs.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaecēsuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2011feces

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaecēsuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2011feces

Earliest quotation: 2011, Kay E. Holekamp, Why Study Hyenas?: “We are also extracting DNA, both from blood collected…”

The story

From Latin faecēs, nominative plural of faex (‘residue, dregs’), further origin unknown; possibly borrowed from a substrate language.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Latin faex ‘residue, dregs’

fecal, defecation, 4 more

Today it means

noun Digested waste material (typically solid or semi-solid) discharged from a human or other mammal's stomach to the intestines.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin faecēs / feces

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