Fecula
/ˈfiːkjʊlə/noun
A fine starch or sediment, especially one obtained from plants or separated from a liquid.
Did you know?Fecula entered English through Latin scientific usage, where it referred to the starch-like residue left after processing plants, a reminder that even “pure” substances were once understood as what remains after separation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*dheh₁-
“to put, place, set”
Latin
Latin
fex
“sediment, dregs, lees”
Late Latin
Latin
faecula
“little dregs; fine sediment or starch”
Middle English
English
fecule
“starch or sediment”
Modern English
English
fecula
“a starch-like substance or fine sediment”