déféquer

Forms

déféquer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dēfaecō (“to cleanse of dregs, purify”), borrowed in 1583 according to the TLFi, the DHLF, Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF;^[2][3][4][5] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert date it 1573.^[6][7] In classical Latin the verb meant “to purify, clarify” in a figurative sense, and in imperial Latin “to purify a liquid”.^[2][3]

It is formed from dē-, marking separation, and faex (“dregs, sediment”), whose plural gave French fèces.^[3][5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1583 in the Maison rustique of Charles Estienne and Jean Liébault, in the transitive sense “to clarify” a liquid.^[2][5] Olivier de Serres wrote of juice left to stand so that it could purge itself and defequer while boiling.^[9]

Semantic evolution

For three centuries the verb was a technical term for clearing a liquid of its impurities, used in chemistry and later, above all, in sugar refining for clarifying the juice.^[2][3][9] The modern physiological sense came late: first figuratively, in déféquer quelqu'un “to reject someone as one rejects excrement”, a phrase Léon Bloy was fond of (1886), and then intransitively, “to pass faeces”, in a 1910 work on parasitology.^[2][3] Both followed the same change in the noun défécation, borrowed as a chemical term in 1660 and used for the passing of faeces from 1814.^[3]

Today the intransitive sense is the usual one, and the chemical sense is rare.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1583 – Estienne and Liébault use it for clarifying a liquid.^[2][3]
• 1660 – The noun défécation is borrowed as a term of chemistry.^[3]
• 1814 – Défécation is used of the passing of faeces.^[3]
• 1877 – The noun défécateur appears in chemistry.^[2][3]
• 1886 – Léon Bloy uses déféquer quelqu'un figuratively.^[2][3]
• 1910 – The intransitive sense “to pass faeces” appears in a work on parasitology.^[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, physiology) To defecate, to pass faeces.^[2][7][10]
2. (transitive, chemistry) To clarify a liquid by separating its impurities, especially the juice in sugar making.^[2][7][5]

Word family

• défécateur

Related words

• défécation
• fèces
• fécal
• Latin faex

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 28a
9. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)