stercus

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *(s)terǵ-, *(s)terḱ-, *(s)treḱ- (“manure, dung; to sully, soil, decay”); cognate with Proto-Germanic *þrakjaz.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈster.kus/, [ˈs̠t̪ɛrkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈster.kus/, [ˈst̪ɛrkus]

Noun

stercus n (genitive stercoris); third declension

1. dung, excrement, ordure

   Synonyms: fimum, laetāmen

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	stercus	stercora
Genitive	stercoris	stercorum
Dative	stercorī	stercoribus
Accusative	stercus	stercora
Ablative	stercore	stercoribus
Vocative	stercus	stercora

Derived terms

• stercoreus
• stercorārius
• stercorō
• stercorōsus

 

Related terms

• stercorātiō
• stercorātus

 

Descendants

• Galician: esterco
• Italian: sterco
• Portuguese: esterco
• Romanian: șterc
• Spanish: estiércol

References

• “stercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “stercus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• stercus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• stercus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.