Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

feces

[fee-seez]
See more synonyms for feces on Thesaurus.com
noun (used with a plural verb)
  1. waste matter discharged from the intestines through the anus; excrement.
  2. dregs; sediment.
Show More
Also especially British, fae·ces.

Origin of feces

1425–75; late Middle English < Latin faecēs grounds, dregs, sediment (plural of faex)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

dungfeculenceordureexcretaegestaejecta

Examples from the Web for feces

Historical Examples

  • Feces containing tape-worm segments may continue to be a source of infection for as long as a fortnight.

    Handbook of Medical Entomology

    William Albert Riley

British Dictionary definitions for feces

feces

pl n
  1. the usual US spelling of faeces
Show More
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for feces

n.

also faeces, c.1400, "dregs," from Latin faeces "sediment, dregs," plural of faex (genitive faecis) "grounds, sediment, lees, dregs," of unknown origin. Specific sense of "human excrement" is from 1630s.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
feces in Medicine

feces

(fē′sēz)
pl.n.
  1. The matter that is discharged from the bowel during defecation; excrement.stercus
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
feces in Science

feces

[fē′sēz]
  1. Waste matter eliminated from the intestinal tract.
Show More
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
feces in Culture

feces

[(fee-seez)]

Excrement; the waste material that is passed to the outside from the rectum through the anus.

Show More
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.