Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

faex, faecis (gen. plur.: faecum, acc. to Charis. p. 114 P.), f. [etym. dub.], grounds, sediment, lees, dregs of liquids (cf. sentina).

  1. I. Lit.: omnis mundi quasi limus subsedit funditus ut faex, Lucr. 5, 498: poti faece tenus cadi, Hor. C. 3, 15, 16; cf. id. ib. 1, 35, 27: peruncti faecibus ora, id. A. P. 277: aceti, Plin. 28, 16, 62, § 219: sapae, id. 23, 2, 33, § 68; Vulg. Ezech. 23, 34.
    1. B. Transf.
      1. 1. Burnt tartar or salt of tartar (cf. faecula), Hor. S. 2, 4, 55 and 73.
      2. 2. The brine of pickles, Ov. M. 8, 666.
      3. 3. Sediment, dregs, impurities of other things: salis, Plin. 31, 7, 42, § 92: aeris, id. 34, 13, 37, § 135: plumbosissima stibii, id. 33, 6, 34, § 103.
      4. 4. Paint or wash for the face, rouge, Ov. A. A. 3, 211.
      5. 5. Jestingly, the last remains of one’s money: si quid adhuc superest de nostri faece locelli, Mart. 14, 13, 1.
  2. II. Trop.: res itaque ad summam faecem turbasque residit, to the lowest dregs of the people, Lucr. 5, 1140: quota portio faecis Achaei, Juv. 3, 61; cf.: apud illam perditissimam atque infimam faecem populi, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 9, 5: apud sordem urbis et faecem, id. Att. 1, 16, 11; cf. also: in Romuli faece, id. ib. 2, 1, 8: legationis, id. Verr. 2, 1, 39, § 99: de faece hauris, i. e. from bad orators, id. Brut. 69, 244: faeces Israël, Vulg. Isa. 49, 6: dies sine faece, i. e. unclouded, clear, Mart. 8, 14, 4.