马桶

Mandarin

simpl.		马桶
trad.		馬桶

Etymology

During the Han Dynasty, the emperor's commode was called 虎子. However, Emperor Gaozu of Tang had a grandfather whose name was Li Hu (李虎). Because it was forbidden for common items to contain the given names of members of the imperial family (see: Naming taboo), 虎子 was changed to 马子, which morphed later into 马桶.

Noun

马桶 (simplified, Pinyin mǎtǒng, traditional 馬桶)

1. nightstool; closestool; commode; toilet; chamber pot

Synonyms

• 马子

References

• 马桶 on the Mandarin Wikipedia.zh.Wikipedia
• Chamber pot on Wikipedia.Wikipedia:Chamber pot
• 1985, Jingrong (ed.) Wu, The Pinyin CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY (in Mandarin/English), Beijing, Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, ISBN 0471867969:
• "马桶" (in Mandarin/English), Dr. eye. URL accessed on 2009-01-01.