Excrete
/ɪkˈskriːt/noun
To discharge waste matter from the body.
Did you know?Excrete comes from Latin excrētus, the past participle of excernere, meaning “to sift out” or “separate by sieving,” from the same root behind secret and discern.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*(s)ker-
“to cut, separate”
Latin
Latin
cernere
“to sift, separate, distinguish”
Latin
Latin
excernere
“to sift out, separate”
Latin
Latin
excretus
“sifted out, separated”
14th–16th Century
French/English
excret
“separated out; later, bodily waste removed from the body”
Modern English
English
excrete
“to discharge waste matter from the body”