צוֹאָה

The word "צוֹאָה" (tzo'ah) is one of the more polite Hebrew words for describing excrement or fecal matter. It is derived from the root tz-v-', which indicates dirt and filth in Hebrew and in closely related Semitic languages such as Aramaic and Arabic. The word began to be used as a cleaner substitute for the word "חָרָא" (chara) already in the late biblical period. In the Bible itself, a similar form, "צֵאָה" (tze'ah), appears in the Book of Ezekiel (4:12), when God instructs the prophet to prepare cakes on "human dung." In the rabbinic period, when the word "chara" was considered too vulgar for use, the word "tzo'ah" (in this form) became the accepted term in rabbinic literature and also replaced it in the reading of the Torah in the synagogue. For example, in the verse from 2 Kings (18:27) where the word "חַרְאֵיהֶם" (char'eihem, "their dung") appears, it is customary to read "צוֹאָתָם" (tzo'atam) to avoid the vulgar expression. During the Haskalah period, when Hebrew writers began to write about secular subjects related to excrement, they continued to use the word "tzo'ah," and so it also entered spoken Hebrew in the early 20th century, alongside other slang words like "chara" and "kaki" (from German) that were more common in everyday speech.