fecula

[ fek-yuh-luh ]

noun,plural fec·u·lae [fek-yuh-lee]. /ˈfɛk yəˌli/.
  1. fecal matter, especially of insects.

  2. foul or muddy matter; dregs.

Origin of fecula

1
<Latin faecula burnt tartar, dried lees of wine, equivalent to faec- (stem of faex;see feces) + -ula-ule

Words Nearby fecula

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fecula in a sentence

  • It may also be observed, that as fecula absorbs less water than flour, this affords a ready means of detection.

  • When dried with stirring upon hot iron plates, it agglomerates into small lumps, called tapioca; being a gummy fecula.

  • With this fecula was mingled a mucilaginous juice of disagreeable flavour, but which it would be easy to get rid of by pressure.

    Abandoned | Jules Verne
  • Starch (Farina or fecula) is the form in which this common plant material is, as it were, laid by for future use.

  • We supposed that rye-flour, pea-flour, and potato fecula were largely used in the making of it.

    Six Women and the Invasion | Gabrielle Yerta

British Dictionary definitions for fecula

fecula

/ (ˈfɛkjʊlə) /


nounplural -lae (-ˌliː)
  1. starch obtained by washing the crushed parts of plants, such as the potato

  2. faecal material, esp of insects

Origin of fecula

1
C17: from Latin: burnt tartar, appearing as a crust in wine, from faex sediment

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