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excretion (n.)
Related entries & more c. 1600, "action of excreting;" 1620s, "that which is excreted," from French excrétion (16c.), from Latin excretionem (nominative excretio), noun of action from past-participle stem of excernere "to sift out, separate" (see excrement).
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excrete (v.)
Related entries & more "to throw out or eliminate," specifically "to eliminate from an body by a process of secretion and discharge," 1610s, from Latin excretus, past participle of excernere "to sift out, discharge," from ex "out" (see ex-) + cernere "sift, separate" (from PIE root *krei- "to sieve," thus "discriminate, distinguish"). Related: Excreted; excreting.
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