Coprophagy
/ˈkɒp.rə.fə.dʒi/noun
The consumption of feces.
Did you know?Coprophagy is built from Greek kopros (“dung, feces”) + -phagy (“eating”), the same ancient eating-root that appears in words like anthropophagy and xylophagy.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
κόπρος (kopros)
“dung, feces”
Ancient Greek
Greek
-φαγία (-phagia)
“eating, devouring”
Late Latin / Medieval scholarly usage
Latin
coprophagia
“the eating of dung”
19th Century
English
coprophagy
“scientific term for dung-eating”
Modern English
English
coprophagy
“the consumption of feces”
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