Emunctions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A physiological process involving the elimination of waste products from the body, primarily through urination or excretion
2. A term that describes the act of discharging or expelling substances, often related to bodily functions
3. A process through which the body rids itself of toxins or other materials, reflecting a form of biological cleansing

Etymology: "Emunctions" is the plural of "emunction," a noun for the bodily process of getting rid of waste, chiefly through urine or excretion. The singular form is the one that carries the etymology: it comes from the Latin "emunctio," a noun built on "emungere," meaning "to wipe clean" or "to blow the nose," from "e-" ("out") and "mungere" ("to wipe" or "to blow"). The literal sense, then, is a cleaning out, the same physical act of wiping that the body's waste-clearing functions were imagined to perform.

Synonyms: discharges, eliminations, excretions, excretory actions