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coprophagia

coprophagia

1 9.9
To eat poop, often seen in some animals and sometimes in people with mental illness
  • noun
  • /ˌkɑːprəˈfeɪdʒə/
  • NSFW
: coprofagia
  • - Coprophagia is a habit of mammals that eat poo.

Examples

  • Some dogs exhibit coprophagia when they eat their own feces out of curiosity.

  • And I think he's got a mild case of coprophagia.

  • If Mr. Zipes's assertions are correct, then the transformation of fairy tales from their root form to their current form is a result of an oligarchical need to transform the attitudes of the masses, groundlings, whatever you call them, by a sort of cultural coprophagia.

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  • Veterinarians often advise owners whose pets develop coprophagia to change their diet to discourage this behavior.

  • In some rare cases, coprophagia can indicate a psychiatric disorder in humans that requires professional help.

Synonyms

coprophagy
vscoprophagia
  • NSFW
1 9.9

To eat poop, often seen in some animals or in people with some illnesses

is the clinical term for the same behavior used in medical contexts
scatophagy
vscoprophagia
  • Offensive
9.9

Eating poo or other animal waste, usually by animals but sometimes by humans

refers specifically to eating feces rather than other dirty substances

Surface Forms

coprophagia singular
coprophagias plural

Morphology

coprophagia = coprophagy (opaque) = copro + phag + ia

The relation between 'coprophagy' and 'coprophagia' is a regular variant suffixation (-y → -ia) used in medical terminology, so the immediate derivation is clear to those who know the technical base word.

Etymology

Coprophagia comes from copro- 'feces' or 'poop' and -phagia 'eating'. So, coprophagia literally means 'eating feces', which is the behavior seen in some animals and, rarely, in people.