defecate

C2+ Topic:The Human Body

US /ˈdɛfɪˌkeɪt/ UK /ˈdefɪˌkeɪt/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to discharge feces from the body; or to purify of dregs

The patient was unable to defecate for several days.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to discharge feces from the... void excrete evacuateegestpurify clarify

Word family

Forms defæcation

Derived forms defecationdefecatordefecated

Related forms fecesfecalfaeces

Etymology

From Latin defaecare ('to cleanse of dregs'), from de- ('away from') + faex (genitive faecis, 'dregs, sediment'). The bodily sense developed from the older 'to purify' meaning.

defaecare Latin faex Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body Word Formation & Derivatives

# defecate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˈdɛfɪˌkeɪt
**IPA (UK):** ˈdefɪˌkeɪt

## Meanings
1. to discharge feces from the body; or to purify of dregs

## Examples
- The patient was unable to defecate for several days.

## Synonyms
- void
- excrete
- evacuate
- egest
- purify
- clarify

## Derived Forms
- defecation
- defecator
- defecated

## Related Forms
- feces
- fecal
- faeces

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: defaecare
- Root: faex

## Etymology
From Latin defaecare ('to cleanse of dregs'), from de- ('away from') + faex (genitive faecis, 'dregs, sediment'). The bodily sense developed from the older 'to purify' meaning.

## AI Etymology
Defecate is from Latin defaecare ('to cleanse of dregs'), from de- ('away from') + faex (genitive faecis, 'dregs, sediment'). The bodily sense developed from the older 'to purify' meaning. The ancestry passes through Latin defaecare and Latin faex. The prefix de- often marks removal, reversal, or downward motion in Latin formations, helping to explain the word's surface structure. In present use as a verb, it means "to discharge feces from the body; or to purify of dregs", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include feces, fecal, and faeces; derived forms include defecation, defecator, and defecated.

## Topics
- The Human Body
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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