fecal

adjective

fe·​cal ˈfē-kəl How to pronounce fecal (audio)
: of, relating to, or constituting feces

Examples of fecal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Detainees at the facility have reported a lack of access to lawyers and poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that do not flush, floors flooding with fecal waste and insects everywhere. Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 18 June 2026 Hoffman documented at least one case of someone performing a fecal microbiota transplant at home based on test results, which carries real infection risk without proper screening and physician oversight. Ryan Brennan, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 June 2026 Detainees at the facility have talked about their difficulty accessing lawyers, and have described poor physical conditions, including worms in the food, toilets that don’t flush, flooding floors with fecal waste, and mosquitoes and other insects everywhere. ABC News, 17 June 2026 The vast majority of bacteria are harmless or beneficial, even fecal ones; some experts estimate that only about one in a billion bacterial species are human pathogens. Joseph Kim, NPR, 16 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for fecal

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin faecālis, from Latin faec-, faex "wine lees, tartar, dregs" (Medieval Latin also "excrement") + -ālis -al entry 1

First Known Use

1541, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fecal was in 1541

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fecal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fecal. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.

Medical Definition

fecal

adjective
fe·​cal
variants or chiefly British faecal
: of, relating to, or constituting feces
fecal incontinence
fecal matter
fecally adverb
or chiefly British faecally

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