defaecatio

Forms

dēfaecātiō f (genitive dēfaecātiōnis); third declension^[1] The spelling dēfēcātiō also occurs.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin dēfaecō + -tiō.^[1][4] The verb, “to cleanse from dregs, purify”, comes from the phrase ⟨dē faece⟩ “from the dregs”, from dē and faex (“dregs”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Tertullian's De anima, in the phrase carnis defaecatio, a purging of the flesh.^[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

Pacian also has it,^[7][6] and Jerome uses it in his book of Hebrew names to explain a name.^[4] In the medieval glossaries it is a purification: Ælfric glosses it with Old English hlyttrung, and the Catholicon Anglicum renders “a clensynge” with it.^[8] A treatise on the heart by Alfred of Shareshill lists it with attraction, retention and digestion among the processes of nutrition, in the sense of defecation.^[8]

English defecation first meant the purification of the mind or soul (1640s) and the separating of a liquid from its dregs (1650s); the sense of evacuating the bowels dates from 1830.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian speaks of a purging of the flesh.^[2][9]
• 2nd half of the 4th century AD – Pacian uses it.^[7][6][9]
• c. 383–419/420 AD – Jerome uses it in explaining a Hebrew name.^[4][9]
• 1640s – English defecation appears, in a figurative sense.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cleansing, purification.^{[2][7][10][8]}
2. (Medieval Latin) defecation.^[8][1]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b c Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
8. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
10. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.