flatus
fla·tus/ˈfleɪtəs/noun
flatus is a noun meaning “Gas generated in the digestive tract” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-L-A-T-U-S and has 2 syllables (fla·tus), and it appears about once in every 34 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of flatus is flatuses.
What does flatus mean?
noun
- 1
Gas generated in the digestive tract.
This expression is utterly devoid of meaning, a mere flatus vocis.
- 2
The expulsion of such gas through the anus.
- 3
obsoleteMorbid inflation or swelling.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce flatus?
- US /ˈfleɪtəs/
- /ˈflætəs/
Flatus has 2 syllables, split fla·tus in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-flatus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of flatus
- flatuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is flatus?
Flatus appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Flatus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | flato |
| Spanish | flato , ventosidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does flatus come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin flātus (“blowing, wind, fart”). First attested in the 1660s–1670s.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).