Wiktionary

cubicle

English

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Etymology

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From Late Middle English cubicle, from Latin cubiculum (“bedroom”). Doublet of cubiculum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cubicle (plural cubicles)

  1. A small separate part or one of the compartments of a room, especially in a work environment.
    Most libraries provide cubicles for quiet study.
    • 1983 December 17, Christine Guilfoy, “Women's Bar, Mens Baths Destroyed By Fire”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 22, page 1:
      Two men who were in the baths at the time of the fire, who preferred te remain anonymous, told GCN that they were asleep in a cubicle on the fourth floor when they awoke to the smell of smoke.
    • 1999, Mike Judge, Office Space (motion picture), spoken by Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston):
      I sit in a cubicle and I update bank software for the 2000 switch.
  2. A small enclosure at a swimming pool etc. used to provide personal privacy when changing.
  3. (UK, Australia) A small enclosure in a public toilet for individual use.
    • 2019 May 23, “Two female loos for every male one, experts recommend”, in BBC News‎[1], retrieved 14 August 2019:
      With more urinals than cubicles, men - unlike women - rarely queue, a Royal Society for Public Health report says.
    • 2019 August 16, “Anti-sex toilets will soak users with water jets and sound alarm”, in Planet Rock‎[2], retrieved 17 August 2019:
      The toilets will have weight-sensitive floors to make sure only one person is using each cubicle at a time.

Synonyms

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  • (toilet cubicle): stall (chiefly US)

Translations

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Middle English

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin cubiculum (“bedroom”).

Noun

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cubicle (Late Middle English)

  1. a bedchamber [15th c.]
  2. (by extension) any small room

Descendants

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  • English: cubicle
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