Etymograph

English

feculent

Feculent comes from Latin faeculentus ‘abounding in dregs or sediment’, and goes back to faex.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaex‘sediment, dregs’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaeculentus‘abounding in dregs or sediment’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600feculent
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1982same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaex‘sediment, dregs’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEfaeculentus‘abounding in dregs or sediment’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600feculent
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1982same form

Earliest quotation: 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music: “At this time in history the streets of London…”

Linked words

through Latin faex ‘sediment, dregs’

feces, fecal, defecation, 3 more

Today it means

adj Dirty with faeces or other impurities

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

Etymograph / Latin faex / feculent

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