Past tense of defecate; to eliminate waste from the body through the bowels.
From Latin 'defaecare' (to remove dregs), combining 'de-' (away) and 'fæces' (dregs, sediment). The word initially referred to purifying liquids but evolved to describe the biological process of waste elimination.
It's funny that the medical/scientific term comes from industrial chemistry—Latin speakers used the same word for cleaning wine and for what your body naturally does, because they saw the similarity in removing unwanted material.
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