fecula

American  

[fek-yuh-luh] / ˈfɛk jə lə /

noun

• feculae
  plural

1. fecal matter, especially of insects.

2. foul or muddy matter; dregs.

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fecula British  

/ ˈfɛkjʊlə /

noun

1. starch obtained by washing the crushed parts of plants, such as the potato

2. faecal material, esp of insects

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• feculae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fecula

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fecula feculae

The two varieties of the Cassava afford a very superior fecula, which is imported under the name of Brazilian arrowroot.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

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

From Abandoned by Jules Verne

Arrow-root, and tout-les-mois, is the fecula obtained by a similar process from those several roots, the nutritious qualities of which are too well known in the sick chamber to call for further mention.

From Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume II (of 2) A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day by Anonymous

On the contrary, it is only that found in rich loose soils which contains fecula in sufficient quantity for this purpose: in poorer ground the root contains proportionally more fibre.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by P. L. Simmonds

The tubers being reduced to pulp with water, the fecula subsides, and is washed and dried for commerce.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by William Saunders

Scorias, in a state of dust, like powdered pumice-stone, and greyish ashes as small as the finest feculae, were held in suspension in the midst of their thick folds.

From The Secret of the Island by William Henry Giles Kingston

Scoriae, in a state of dust, like powdered pumice-stone, and grayish ashes as small as the finest feculae, were held in suspension in the midst of their thick folds.

From The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne