What does fecal mean?
Fecal is an adjective meaning relating to, consisting of, or derived from feces — the solid waste that the body eliminates through the bowels. It is a clinical term, at home in medicine, microbiology, and public health rather than in casual conversation, which lends it a neutral, technical tone even though its referent is inherently unappetizing. The word attaches readily to a small set of established pairings: 'fecal matter' in forensic and medical contexts, 'fecal contamination' or 'fecal coliform' in water-quality testing, and 'fecal transplant', a genuine medical procedure in which gut bacteria from a healthy donor are introduced into a patient's intestine to treat stubborn infections such as recurrent C. difficile. Derived from Latin faex, 'dregs, sediment', it shares ancestry with 'feces' and 'defecate'. Spelled 'faecal' in British English, it is indispensable wherever precision about waste matters more than delicacy.
adjectiveRelating to or consisting of feces ( bodily waste); of or pertaining to excrement.
- Relating to, consisting of, or derived from feces; used especially in medical, scientific, and public-health contexts.
"The lab analyzed the fecal sample for traces of the bacterium."
"Tests revealed fecal contamination in the drinking water supply."
"A fecal transplant restored the balance of bacteria in her gut after repeated infections."
Doctors can literally transfer a healthy person's gut bacteria to cure another patient's infection — a 'fecal transplant' that has saved lives.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fecal
Fecal derives from the Latin 'faeces' (plural of 'faex'), meaning dregs or sediment — the lees left at the bottom of a wine vessel. The Latin term passed into scientific English as 'feces' in the seventeenth century, and the adjective 'fecal' was formed from it shortly afterward. It shares this root with 'defecate' (literally to clear away dregs) and, more distantly, with 'fecund', whose sense of fertility reflects the same idea of residue and abundance. The British spelling 'faecal' preserves the original Latin digraph.
Related word forms
How fecal is actually used
A clinical and scientific register word: it appears routinely in medicine, microbiology, and environmental testing but rarely in everyday conversation, where blunter terms are preferred. It is descriptive rather than vulgar. The spelling is 'fecal' in the US and 'faecal' in Britain and most Commonwealth countries.
Easily confused with fecal
'Faecal' is simply the standard British spelling of the same word, while 'fecal' is the American spelling — they are not different words.