stercorans

Present participle of stercorō

stercorāns (genitive stercorantis); third-declension one-termination participle

1. defecating
2. dunging or manuring; i.e., spreading dung or manure as a natural fertilizer
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Cato Maior de Senectute 15.54:

     Quid dē ūtilitāte loquar stercorandī? Dīxī in eō librō, quem dē rēbus rūsticīs scrīpsī; dē quā doctus Hēsiodus nē verbum quidem fēcit, cum dē cultūrā agrī scrīberet. At Homērus — quī multīs, ut mihi vidētur, ante saeculīs fuit — Laeten lēnientem dēsīderium, quod capiēbat ē fīliō, colentem agrum et eum stercorantem facit.

     What should I say about the benefits of manuring [the soil]? I have already discussed this in the book I wrote on farming matters. Interestingly, the learned Hesiod said not a single word about it in his writings on the cultivation of the land. But Homer — who, in my view, lived many centuries earlier — represents Laertes tilling and manuring the earth as a way to soothe the grief he felt for his son.
     (stercorandī: genetive gerund; stercorantem: present participle, masculine accusative singular. The Odyssey does not specifically mention “manuring.”)

Third-declension participle.

¹When used purely as an adjective.