English edit

The Toilet of Venus (La Toilette de Vénus), by François Boucher
Ancient Roman pit toilets
An outdoor pit toilet (outhouse) at Siple Dome Field Camp, Antarctica.

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From Middle French toilette (small cloth), diminutive of toile (cloth), from their use to protect clothing while shaving or arranging hair. From its use as a private room, toilet came to refer euphemistically to lavatories and then to its fixtures, beginning in the United States in the late 19th century.[1]

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɔɪ.lət/, /ˈtɔɪ.lɪt/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɔɪlɪt

Noun edit

toilet (plural toilets)

  1. (UK, Australia, Hong Kong) A room or enclosed area containing a fixture used for urination and defecation (i.e. a toilet (sense 2)): a bathroom or water closet. [from 19th c.]
    Sorry, I was in the toilet.
    • 2002, Digby Tantam, Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice: A Narrative Framework, page 122:
      He would hit her when she cried and, if this did not work, would lock her in the toilet for hours on end.
    • 2014, C.S. Walter, Abandoned Bridges, pp. 105 f.:
      He wet his thumb with saliva pressing on the tongue, ran it up and down faster over the letter 'I' of 'TOILET', the 'LADIES TOILET' was transformed into 'LADIES TO LET' in no time.
  2. A fixture used for urination and defecation, particularly one with a large bowl and ring-shaped seat which uses water to flush the waste material into a septic tank or sewer system. [from 19th c.]
    My toilet backed up. Now the bathroom's flooded.
  3. (figuratively) A very shabby or dirty place. [from 20th c.]
    • 1982, The Mosquito Coast:
      Look around you. It's a toilet.
    • 1991, Stephen King, Needful Things:
      Mr. Gaunt was urbane and smiling again, not a hair out of place. "Do you like this little town? Do you love it? [] "
      []
      "I hate this fucking toilet," he said to Leland Gaunt.
  4. (New Zealand) A small secondary lavatory having a fixture used for urination and defecation (i.e. a toilet (sense 2)) and sink but no bathtub or shower.
  5. (obsolete) A covering of linen, silk, or tapestry, spread over a dressing table in a chamber or dressing room. [17th–19th c.]
  6. (obsolete) The table covered by such a cloth; a dressing table. [17th–19th c.]
    • 1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto I, lines 121-126:
      And now, unveil’d, the toilet stands display’d,
      Each silver vase in mystic order laid.
  7. (now historical or archaic) Personal grooming; the process of washing, dressing and arranging the hair. [from 17th c.]
    • 1791, Elizabeth Inchbald, A Simple Story, Oxford, published 2009, page 118:
      Against that short evening her toilet was consulted the whole day [] .
    • 1913, Rabindranath Tagore, Come as you are..., Poetry Foundation, page 85:
      Come as you are, tarry not over your toilet.
    • 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 111:
      Three women got down and standing on the curb they made unabashed toilets, smoothing skirts and stockings, brushing one another's back, opening parcels and donning various finery.
    • 1952, Norman Lewis, Golden Earth, Chapter 8:
      Here, at night, a lonely but brilliantly neon-illuminated figure, I performed my toilet, watched incuriously by the Burmese seated at the tables of the tea-shops below.
  8. (now rare, archaic) One's style of dressing: dress, outfit. [from 18th c.]
    • 1871, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter I, in Middlemarch [], volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book I, page 25:
      It is so painful in you, Celia, that you will look at human beings as if they were merely animals with a toilette, and never see the great soul in a man's face.
    • 1917, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge:
      "It is a quarter-past two," he said. "Your telegram was dispatched about one. But no one can glance at your toilet and attire without seeing that your disturbance dates from the moment of your waking."
  9. (archaic) A dressing room. [from 19th c.]
  10. (obsolete) A chamber pot.

Usage notes edit

In the United States and Canada, toilet refers most directly to fixtures for containing or removing human waste. As such, although toilet was originally a euphemism itself, its use to describe the place where the toilets are located (e.g., "Where is the toilet?") is now considered somewhat indiscreet; instead, it is more common to employ other euphemisms such as bathroom, restroom, or WC.

Until the late 19th century, toilet referred solely to personal grooming, including bathing and hair care. This still appears in toiletries and in various set phrases, such as toilet water and toilet bag. This use is sometimes understood as a new borrowing from French, despite being the older sense of the English word. Medical jargon also includes some set phrases such as pulmonary toilet and toilet of the mouth; in both cases the word toilet means general hygiene.

Synonyms edit

Hyponyms edit

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Japanese: トイレット, トイレ

Translations edit

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

toilet (third-person singular simple present toilets, present participle toileting or toiletting, simple past and past participle toileted or toiletted)

  1. (dated) To dress and groom oneself.
  2. To use (urinate or defecate in) a toilet.
    • 1974, Philip J. Hilts, Behavior Mod[1], Harper's Magazine Press, page 74:
      We use imitation. We take a doll, a doll that can wet, and make sure it has pants on it. We use the principle that a very effective way of learning is by teaching. Se we have him teach the doll how to toilet properly.
    • 2024 February 17 (last accessed), Jenny Morber, “Scientists turn pee into power in Uganda”, in Upworthy Science[2]:
      In many developing regions, toileting at night is especially dangerous for children. Without electrical power for lighting, kids may fall into the deep pits of the latrines through broken or unsteady floorboards. Girls are sometimes assaulted by men who hide in the dark.
  3. To assist another (a child, etc.) in using a toilet.
    Synonym: bathroom

References edit

  1. ^ "toilet, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd ed. (2014), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Chinese edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From English toilet. The pronunciation toi1 ji4 le4 is probably from Japanese トイレ (toire), in turn from English toilet.

Pronunciation edit


Noun edit

toilet

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) toilet; bathroom; WC

Synonyms edit

Danish edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French toilette (small cloth) diminutive of toile (cloth).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /toalɛt/, [tˢoaˈlɛd̥] or IPA(key): /tɔilɛt/, [tˢʌiˈlɛd̥]

Noun edit

toilet n (singular definite toilettet, plural indefinite toiletter)

  1. toilet (room containing lavatory); men's room, ladies' room
  2. toilet (lavatory)

Inflection edit

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

Related terms edit

Further reading edit

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from French toilette (small cloth), from Middle French toilette.

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /tʋaːˈlɛt/
  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: toi‧let
  • Rhymes: -ɛt

Noun edit

toilet n (plural toiletten, diminutive toiletje n)

  1. toilet (room containing lavatory); men's room, ladies' room
    Synonyms: privaat, wc
  2. toilet (lavatory)
    Synonym: wc
  3. personal grooming

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

Indonesian edit

 
Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology edit

From Dutch toilet, from French toilette (small cloth) diminutive of toile (cloth).

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtoi̯.lɛt̚/
  • Hyphenation: toilèt

Noun edit

toilèt (first-person possessive toiletku, second-person possessive toiletmu, third-person possessive toiletnya)

  1. toilet (personal grooming).
  2. toilet, room used for urination and defecation.
  3. toilet, fixture used for urination and defecation.
    Synonyms: jamban, kakus, peturasan, tandas, WC

Further reading edit

Tok Pisin edit

Etymology edit

From English toilet.

Noun edit

toilet

  1. toilet