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scatology

[skuh-tol-uh-jee]
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noun
  1. the study of or preoccupation with excrement or obscenity.
  2. obscenity, especially words or humor referring to excrement.
  3. the study of fossil excrement.
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Origin of scatology

First recorded in 1875–80; scato- + -logy
Also called coprology.
Related formsscat·o·log·i·cal [skat-l-oj-i-kuh l] /ˌskæt lˈɒdʒ ɪ kəl/, scat·o·log·ic, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for scatology

scatology

noun
  1. the scientific study of excrement, esp in medicine for diagnostic purposes, and in palaeontology of fossilized excrement
  2. obscenity or preoccupation with obscenity, esp in the form of references to excrement
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Derived Formsscatologist, noun
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 scatology

n.

"obscene literature," 1876, with -logy "treatise, study" + Greek skat-, stem of skor (genitive skatos) "excrement," from PIE *sker- "excrement, dung" (cf. Latin stercus "dung"), literally "to cut off;" see shear (v.), and cf. shit (v.). Related: Scatological (1886).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
scatology in Medicine

scatology

(skă-tŏl′ə-jē)
n.
  1. The study and analysis of feces for physiological and diagnostic purposes.coprology
  2. An obsession with excrement or excretory functions.
  3. The psychiatric study of such an obsession.
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Related formsscat′o•log′i•cal (skăt′l-ŏj′ĭ-kəl) null adj.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.