What does feces mean?
"Feces" is the formal English term for the solid waste that is eliminated from the bowels of humans and other animals. It functions as the clinical counterpart of everyday words like "poop" or "poo", and it appears chiefly in medical, veterinary, scientific, and public-health writing — a doctor might order a feces sample, or an environmental report might test water for traces of feces. Grammatically it looks like a plural noun (the singular form "fex" does not exist in modern use), though it is often treated as a mass noun in practice. The word comes from the Latin "faex", meaning sediment or dregs, entering English in the seventeenth century; the related adjective is "fecal". Because it is precise and neutral rather than crude, "feces" is the preferred term whenever clarity and professionalism matter, from laboratory reports to wildlife research.
nounWaste matter discharged from the bowels; excrement. The term is the standard formal and scientific word for solid bodily waste.
- Waste matter eliminated from the bowels of humans or animals; excrement.
"The laboratory analyzed the feces for signs of intestinal parasites."
"Fresh droppings confirmed that raccoons had been living in the attic, their feces posing a health risk."
"Pale or clay-colored feces can indicate a problem with bile flow and should be reported to a doctor."
"Feces" is historically a Latin plural and remains plural in form, but in modern usage it often behaves like an uncountable mass noun. When a countable alternative is needed, "a stool specimen" or "fecal matter" is preferred.
"The researchers collected feces from the nesting site for dietary analysis."
The Latin root of 'feces' originally meant 'sediment' or 'dregs' — the same root that gives us 'defecate', literally to clear away the dregs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of feces
"Feces" derives directly from the Latin "faeces" (plural of "faex"), meaning dregs, sediment, or refuse — the lees left at the bottom of a wine cask. The word entered English in the early seventeenth century as a learned anatomical term. It shares this Latin root with the adjective "fecal" and the verb "defecate", which literally means to clear away the dregs.
Related word forms
How feces is actually used
"Feces" is a formal, clinical, or scientific term, used in medicine, biology, and public-health contexts. In everyday conversation most speakers prefer euphemisms such as "poop", "number two", or "bowel movement". It is treated as a plural noun in form (ending in -es) but is very often used with plural agreement; strictly, the singular is "feces" with "fecal matter" or "stool" as uncountable alternatives. The British spelling is "faeces".
Easily confused with feces
Faeces is simply the British spelling of the same word, while feces is the American spelling; the meanings are identical.