caca (English)

Where does "caca" come from?

The English noun 'caca' descends through Middle English 'cakken' from the reconstructed Old English verb '*cacian' and the noun 'cac', meaning 'dung' or 'excrement'[1]. The ultimate origins of these Old English forms remain uncertain, though they may trace back to the Latin verb 'cacō' ('to defecate')[2]. At a deeper level, the Latin term reflects Proto-Italic '*kakāō' and the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root '*kakka-'[4]. Linguists often regard this root as an imitative nursery word, coined to evoke the sounds of defecation, which explains its wide appearance across European languages[3][5].

Open questions

The exact relationship and historical derivation connecting the Old English forms to Latin 'cacō' or 'cacāre' are uncertain. [1] [2] [3]
The Old English ancestral verb '*cacian' is an unattested, reconstructed form. [1] [2]
The Proto-Indo-European ancestor '*kakka-' is reconstructed and tentatively explained as an imitative or expressive nursery word. [4] [5]

Full etymology tree

caca (English), 'Excrement; feces.'
- derived cakken (Middle English), 'to defecate'
  - inherited *cacian (Old English)
    - derived cac (Old English), 'dung, excrement'
    - derived caco (Latin), 'to defecate, shit, pass excrement'
      - inherited *kakāō (Proto-Italic)
        inherited *kakka- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to defecate'

Ancestors

cakken (Middle English)
cac (Old English)

Cognates and doublets

κάκκη (Ancient Greek)
cac (Aromanian)
kaka (Basque)
cac'h (Breton)
kawgh (Cornish)
cack (English)
caca (French)
kacken (German)
kaka (Hungarian)
cac (Irish)
cacca (Italian)
caco (Latin)

Sources

Updated September 2026

More words starting with C

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris