Etymograph

English

stercorous

Stercorous comes from Latin stercus ‘feces’, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terḱ-os ‘befoulement, excrements’, and ultimately from *(s)terḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terḱ-1‘to befoul, pollute’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terḱ-os1‘befoulement, excrements’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstercus2‘feces’
  4. Englishtodaystercorous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin stercus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English stercorous

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terḱ-Wiktionary, Latin stercus‘to befoul, pollute’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)terḱ-osWiktionary, Latin stercus‘befoulement, excrements’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEstercusWiktionary, English stercorous‘feces’
  4. EnglishtodaystercorousWiktionary, English stercorous

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)terḱ-

Today it means

adj fecal; manurelike

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stercorous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin stercus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)terḱ- / stercorous

Shirt and support for this word