What does excrement mean?
Excrement is a formal noun referring to waste matter discharged from the body of a person or animal, most specifically faeces, though it can also cover other excreted substances such as urine or sweat. It belongs to the clinical and technical register: doctors, public-health officials, veterinarians, and sanit engineers use it precisely because it names the substance plainly without slang or coarseness, as in reports of water supplies 'contaminated with human excrement.' Because of its formal tone, it rarely appears in casual speech, where blunter colloquial words are preferred. The word derives from the Latin excernere, 'to sift out or separate,' reflecting the body's role in sorting usable nutrients from unusable residue. Its adjective form is excremental, though this survives mainly in literary use. Understanding excrement is useful for reading scientific literature, hygiene guidance, and historical accounts of sanitation, where it serves as the neutral, dignified term for material that everyday language treats with euphemism or disgust. It has no meaningful antonym, since it denotes a specific physical substance rather than a quality.
nounWaste matter discharged from the body, especially faeces; more broadly, any excreted bodily waste such as urine or sweat.
- Waste matter discharged from the bowels; faeces (the dominant sense in modern usage).
- More broadly, any waste substance excreted by the body or an organism, including urine, sweat, or metabolic waste.
"The parasite is spread through water contaminated with human excrement."
"Public-health inspectors found raw excrement seeping into the village well."
"Bird droppings — technically excrement — have corroded the bronze statue over decades."
The plural is grammatically valid but uncommon; it is used mainly to refer to different kinds or samples of excreted waste, as in scientific writing. In ordinary usage, excrement functions as an uncountable mass noun.
"The laboratory analysed the various excrements collected from the livestock."
Excrement comes from a Latin word meaning 'that which sifts out' — your body literally separating what it can't use and straining it away.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of excrement
Excrement comes from the Latin excrementum, meaning 'that which is sifted out,' formed from the verb excernere — ex- ('out') plus cernere ('to sift, separate, distinguish'). It entered English via French in the late Middle Ages, around the 15th century. It shares its Latin root with excrete, excretion, and excretory, all built on the same idea of separating out waste from what the body keeps.
How excrement is actually used
Excrement is a formal, clinical register word, common in medical, scientific, sanitary-engineering, and public-health contexts. In everyday conversation it sounds stiff or euphemistic-avoidant; speakers typically choose cruder slang terms instead. The plural 'excrements' exists but is rare and generally avoided except when referring to distinct types of excreted waste. It carries no strong obscenity but retains an inherently distasteful connotation due to its referent.
Easily confused with excrement
Excrement is the noun meaning waste matter discharged from the body, while excrete is the verb describing the act of discharging that waste.