stercoranist

ster·co·ran·ist
S1T1E1R1C3O1R1A1N1I1S1T1
UK/ˈstɜːkəɹənɪst/US/ˈstɝkəɹənɪst/

noun

One who believes that the Eucharist undergoes the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient, not just in the empirical accidents of its elements, but as the body and blood of Christ.

First used 17th c.Scrabble 14

Meanings

nounstercoranist (plural stercoranists)

plural stercoranists

  1. derogatoryhistoricalChristianityOne who believes that the Eucharist undergoes the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient, not just in the empirical accidents of its elements, but as the body and blood of Christ.First known use 17th c.

    [T]his very thing that Mr. Arnaud [i.e., Antoine Arnauld] believes Amalarius vvas a Stercoraniſt ought to convince him on the contrary that this Author did not believe the change or converſion of the ſubſtance in the Euchariſt.

    1684, Jean Claude, “Of Other Authors in the Ninth Century, Amalarius, Heribald, Raban, Bertram, and John Scot”, in The Catholick Doctrine of the Eucharist in All Ages: […], part II, London: […] for R[ichard] Royston, […], →OCLC, book VI (Concerning the Change which has Hapned in the Doctrin of the Latin Church in Respect of the Eucharist. […]), page 245
    4 more examples

    […] Humburtus Biſhop of Silvâ Candida calls Nicetas Stercoraniſt. […] If Cardinal Humbert drevv up Berengarius his Recantation, he vvas the verieſt Stercoraniſt vvho called Stercoraniſt firſt, and Pope Nicolaus the ſecond vvith the vvhole Councel that impoſed that Form of Abjuration upon him, vvere Stercoraniſts to ſome purpoſe; vvho taught him, That Chriſts body is truly and ſenſiby handled and broken by the Prieſts hands, and ground by the Teeth of the Faithful.

    1686, [Pierre Allix], “That the Treatise Expressly Confutes the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, and is Very Agreeable to the Doctrine of the Church of England”, in Ratramnus, translated by [William Hopkins], The Book of Bertram or Ratramnus, Priest and Monk of Corbey; Concerning the Body and Blood of the Lord, […], London: […] Ch. Shortgrave […], →OCLC, page xcviii

    Great conteſts have ariſen in the church of Rome, vvhether the ſacramental bread and vvine vvere ſo far digeſted, as that ſome part of them, like other food, vvas turned into excrements: thoſe vvho held the affirmative, vvent by the name of Stercorarians or Stercoraniſtæ. Cardinal Humbert, in his anſvver to Nicetas Pectoratus, treats him as a Stercoraniſt, merely for holding that the euchariſt breaks the faſt; vvhich opinion he imagined led directly into Stercoraniſm.

    1758, “Essay III”, in Considerations upon War, upon Cruelty in General, and Religious Cruelty in Particular. […], London: […] T[homas] Osborne, […], →OCLC, section VI, footnote h, page 147

    He [Humbert of Silva Candida] designated his adversary [Niketas Stethatos] a Stercoranist, because he had said that the eucharist broke the fast; he anathematised him, and all who thought with him, until they should forsake their errors.

    1841, J[ohann] J[oseph] Ig[naz von] Döllinger, “History of the Heresies, Dogmatical Contests, and Schisms”, in Edward Cox, transl., A History of the Church […], volume III, London: C[harles] Dolman, […], and by T[homas] Jones, […], →OCLC, section IX (Relations of the Two Churches in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries. Renewal of the Schism by Michael Cerularius), page 106

    Adherents of Christ's material presence in the Eucharist had also to answer (or deflect, with ridicule) the stercoranists, those who took seriously the possibility of Christ's body being not only masticated, but excreted, subject to all cloacal indignities.

    2007, Eric S. Mallin, “Crackers (Titus)”, in Godless Shakespeare, London; New York, N.Y.: Continuum, →ISBN, part 1 (Hell), page 38

    Synonyms: stercorarian

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne who believes that the Eucharist undergoes the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient, not just in the empirical accidents of its elements, but as the body and blood of Christ.

Also see

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinstercoranista
  2. Englishstercoranist

From Medieval Latin stercoranista, from stercor- (“dung, excrement”) + -anista, from root of stercus (“dung, excrement”) + suffixal construction from -ānus (“of, pertaining to”) + -ista (“one who practices or believes”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French stercoraniste
  • stercoranisteone who believes that the Eucharist undergoes in essence the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient
German Sterkoranist
  • Sterkoranistone who believes that the Eucharist undergoes in essence the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient
Latin stercoranista
  • stercoranistaone who believes that the Eucharist undergoes in essence the process of digestion in, and eventually elimination from, the body of the recipient
Cite this entry
APA

stercoranist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stercoranist

MLA

“stercoranist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stercoranist. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stercoranist,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stercoranist.

Source: stercoranist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.