粪

• Pinyin: fèn
• Hanzi breakdown: 粪 = 米 + 异 variant (grain + expulsion — the by-product of digested grain; excrement)

Meaning

Excrement; dung; faeces. The solid waste matter excreted from the digestive system of humans or animals.

Used in formal, agricultural, medical, and scientific contexts. Common compounds: 粪便 (faeces), 粪肥 (manure/fertiliser), 粪坑 (cesspit). Often refers to animal dung used as fertiliser in agriculture. Sounds clinical or literary in speech; everyday speech uses 大便.

Examples

1. 农业研究表明，将畜禽粪与秸秆混合堆肥后施入土壤，能显著提高耕地的有机质含量和保水保肥能力。 Agricultural research shows that composting livestock manure with straw and then applying it to the soil can significantly increase organic matter in farmland and improve the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients.
2. 城市污水处理厂对生活污水中的粪进行无害化处理，将其转化为可安全还田的有机肥料或用于沼气发电。 A municipal wastewater treatment plant treats fecal matter in domestic sewage to render it harmless, converting it into organic fertilizer that can be safely returned to fields or using it to generate biogas power.
3. 考古学家通过分析遗址中发现的人类粪化石，获取了关于史前人群饮食结构与健康状况的重要线索。 By analyzing fossilized human feces (coprolites) found at archaeological sites, researchers can obtain important clues about prehistoric diets and health.

Usage Guide

Context: agriculture, medicine, archaeology, sanitation

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 有机农业体系中，合理利用牲畜的粪作为天然肥料是减少化学农药和合成肥料依赖的重要途径，但需要经过充分发酵以消灭其中的致病微生物。(In organic farming systems, making rational use of livestock dung as a natural fertiliser is an important means of reducing dependence on chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, but it requires thorough fermentation to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms.)
• 医学检验中，粪的微生物培养与寄生虫卵检测是诊断消化道感染性疾病的基础手段之一，临床上具有不可替代的参考价值。(In medical testing, microbial culture and parasite egg detection of faeces are fundamental methods for diagnosing digestive tract infectious diseases, holding irreplaceable clinical reference value.)

Don't Say

• 粪 in casual speech — use 大便 in everyday polite conversation; 粪 alone sounds clinical or literary and is most appropriate in agricultural, medical, or scientific discourse

Origin & History

粪 — composite character historically associating processed grain with its bodily by-product; found in agricultural and sanitation contexts across classical texts

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal