eructation

See also: éructation

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ērūctātiōnem, accusative of ērūctātiō (“a belching forth, burp”), from ērūctāre (“to belch, burp”). Compare Middle English eructuacioun (“belching, burp”), borrowed from the same root.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪ.ɹʌkˈteɪ.ʃən/

Noun

eructation (countable and uncountable, plural eructations)

1. The act of belching, of expelling gas from the stomach through the mouth.
   • 1914, Arnold Bennett, The Price of Love‎^[1]:

     His eyes were as restless as his limbs, and seemed ever to be seeking for something upon which they could definitely alight, and not finding it. He performed eructations with the disarming naturalness of a baby.

   • 1963 (date written), John Kennedy Toole, A Confederacy of Dunces, Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, published 1980, →ISBN, page 211:

     "Move along, you coxcomb," Ignatius belched, the gassy eructations echoing between the walls of the alley.

2. An erumpent blast of gas, wind, or other matter ejected from the depths of the earth.

Related terms

• eruct

References

• eructation in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.