toilet English · revision 6050

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1540|origins=fr toile}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtɔɪ.lət/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|toilette|t=a cloth; a bag for clothes]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) a diminutive of [[m|frm|toile|t=cloth, net]] (see [[toil#2]] and [[toile]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cloth cover or bag used as a wrapper for clothes: 1540.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word went from the cloth to the things it covered, which in turn gave the name of the activity.^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) A cloth cover for a dressing table is from 1682,^(OED 1989) and the articles used in dressing, the mirror, combs and bottles, from 1662 in Evelyn's ''Diary'';^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) through them toilet acquired an association with upper-class dressing in the 18th century.^(Etymonline) The act of dressing, especially of dressing and powdering the hair, is from 1681,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and led to the 18th-century fashionable reception of visitors by a lady while she finished her toilet (1703).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A dressing room is by 1819, in Byron's ''Don Juan'',^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and in America especially one with washing facilities.^(Cresswell 2021) The sense of a lavatory or a porcelain plumbing fixture appeared in 1895,^(Barnhart 1988) but became common only in the early 20th century.^(Cresswell 2021) [[toiletry|alt=Toiletry]] is from 1892.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1540 – a wrapper for clothes.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1662 – articles used in dressing, in Evelyn.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1681 – the act of dressing.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1682 – a dressing-table cover.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1703 – a lady's reception during her toilet.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1819 – a dressing room, in Byron.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1892 – toiletry.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1895 – a lavatory.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A fixture for [[urination]] and [[defecation]], with a bowl connected to a drain and a flushing device; a room containing one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(old-fashioned)'' The act or process of washing, dressing and grooming oneself.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(old-fashioned)'' A [[dressing table]], or the articles used in grooming.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(medicine)'' The cleaning of a wound or part after an operation or childbirth.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To help a child or invalid use a toilet.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[toilet-train]]

+ * [[toiletry]]

+ * [[toilet bowl]]

+ * [[toilet paper]]

+ * [[toilet powder]]

+ * [[toilet seat]]

+ * [[toilet set]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[toile]]

+ * [[toilette]]

+ * [[toil]]

+ * [[loo]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Word Origins notes that the sense of washing and dressing oneself, now rather dated, is also expressed by the French form [[toilette]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}