scatology

noun

sca·​tol·​o·​gy ska-ˈtä-lə-jē 

skə-

1

: interest in or treatment of obscene matters especially in literature

2

: the biologically oriented study of excrement (as for taxonomic purposes or for the determination of diet)

scatological

ˌska-tə-ˈlä-ji-kəl 

adjective

Examples of scatology in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

His mind swirled with scatology and characters from pulp fiction and the cinema. —Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2021

But the show’s linguistic ingenuity extends well beyond scatology. —Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Greek skat-, skōr excrement; akin to Old English scearn dung, Latin muscerdae mouse droppings

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

scatology

noun

sca·​tol·​o·​gy ska-ˈtäl-ə-jē, skə- 

plural scatologies

1

: interest in or treatment of obscene matters especially in literature

2

: the biologically oriented study of excrement (as for taxonomic purposes or for the determination of diet)