verb (used without object), def·e·cat·ed, def·e·cat·ing.
- to void excrement from the bowels through the anus; have a bowel movement.
- to become clear of dregs, impurities, etc.
verb (used with object), def·e·cat·ed, def·e·cat·ing.
- to clear of dregs, impurities, etc.; purify; refine.
verb
- (intr) to discharge waste from the body through the anus
- (tr) to clarify or remove impurities from (a solution, esp of sugar)
1620s, from Late Latin defecationem (nominative deficatio), from defecat-, past participle stem of Latin defecare (see defecate). An Old English word for “bowel movement” was arse-gang literally “arse-going.”
1570s, “to purify,” from Latin defaecatus, past participle of defaecare “cleanse from dregs, purify,” from the phrase de faece “from dregs” (plural faeces; see feces). Excretory sense first recorded 1830 (defecation), American English, from French. Related: Defecated; defecating.
v.
- To void feces from the bowels.