défécation

Forms

défécation f (plural défécations)^[1] Earlier spelling defaecation or defæcation.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin dēfaecātiō (“cleansing, purification”).^[2][5][1] The Latin noun comes from dēfaecō (“to purify, clear of dregs”), formed from dē- and faex (“dregs, sediment”).^[5][6] Wiktionary notes that it can also be analysed within French as déféquer with the suffix -ation.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1660 as a chemical term, defaecation de l'huille “the clarifying of oil”, in N. Le Febvre's Traicté de la chymie.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the same course as the verb déféquer: borrowed as a term of chemistry for the clearing of a liquid, it now means the expulsion of faeces, a sense recorded in 1814 in Nysten.^[5][2] The chemical sense survives in sugar refining.^[6][2] The GLLF and the Petit Robert of 1973 only knew the word from the Encyclopédie of 1754.^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1583 – The verb déféquer is recorded with the sense “to clarify”.^[2][5]
• 1660 – N. Le Febvre uses defaecation in chemistry.^[2][5]
• 1754 – The Encyclopédie records the chemical and physiological senses.^[6]
• 1814 – Nysten records the physiological sense.^[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The expulsion of faeces from the body; defecation.^[4][8][9]
2. (chemistry) The clarification of a liquid by making the substances that cloud it settle out.^[4][9][10]
3. (sugar refining) The settling of the precipitate formed when sugar juices are heated and treated with lime and carbon dioxide.^[6][2]

Related words

• déféquer
• fèces
• fécal
• Latin faex

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette