defecate (v.)

1570s, "to purify, clarify, clear from dregs or impurities," from Latin defaecatus, past participle of defaecare "cleanse from dregs, purify," from the phrase de faece "from dregs" (see de- + feces). Figurative sense "purge of extraneous matter" is from 1620s. Excretory sense "void feces from the bowels" is by 1849 in medical writing, probably from French. Related: Defecated; defecating.