How to Pronounce Fecal Incontinence

Say it like this: FEE-kal in-KON-tih-nents. The stress falls on the first syllable of the first word (FEE) and on the second syllable of the second word (KON). Think of it as "FEE-kal" (rhymes with "feces") followed by "in-KON-tih-nents."

Fecal (FEE-kal) is the medical adjective form of the word feces, which means stool or bowel waste. Any time you see the word 'fecal' in a medical context, it's referring to something related to stool.

Incontinence means the loss of control over something your body normally controls. In this case, it refers to not being able to control when stool is released from your body. It's the opposite of being continent, which means having control.

Break it like this: FEE-kal in-CON-ti-nence. The first word has two syllables, and the second word has four syllables, making six syllables total.

Many people stress the wrong syllable and say in-con-TIN-ence instead of in-KON-ti-nence. Remember: the stress goes on the second syllable (KON), not the third. Say it like "in-KON-tih-nents" to get it right.

Incontinence comes from Latin roots: 'in-' means "not" and 'continent' comes from 'continere,' which means "to hold together" or "to contain." So incontinence literally means "not holding in" or "not containing."

You might hear terms like 'urinary incontinence' (inability to control urine) or 'bowel incontinence' (another way to say fecal incontinence). The word 'continent' by itself means having control, so these related words all deal with loss of control.

Sure! Here's an example: "The patient's doctor explained that fecal incontinence is a medical condition that affects the ability to control bowel movements." Notice that 'fecal incontinence' is used as a noun phrase to name the specific condition.

In medical writing, it's sometimes shortened to 'FI,' but this abbreviation is less common than others. Most healthcare professionals and written materials use the full term 'fecal incontinence' to be clear.