What is "coprophagia"

1906, in Havelock Ellis, Latinized from coprophagy (q.v.).

n. (alternative form of coprophagy English)

n. eating feces; in human a symptom of some kinds of insanity [syn: coprophagy]

Coprophagia or coprophagy is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the Greek κόπρος copros, "feces" and φαγεῖν phagein, "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of other individuals (allocoprophagy), or its own (autocoprophagy) – those once deposited or taken directly from the anus.

In humans, coprophagia has been observed in individuals with mental illness. Some animal species eat feces as a normal behavior; other species may not normally consume feces but do so under very unusual conditions.