English
fecula
Fecula comes from Latin faecula ‘tartar deposited in a form of a crust by wine’, and goes back to faex ‘residue, dregs’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaex‘residue, dregs’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaecula‘tartar deposited in a form of a crust by wine’diminutive of faex
- Englishearliest quotation 1843fecula
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaex‘residue, dregs’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaecula‘tartar deposited in a form of a crust by wine’diminutive of faex
- Englishearliest quotation 1843fecula
Earliest quotation: 1843, Robley Dunglison, Demulcents: “Arrowroot is the fecula of Maran′ta arundina′cea or West…”
Linked words
through Latin faex ‘residue, dregs’
Today it means
noun Starchy sediment extracted from plants, especially those which are used as food.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin faex / fecula