A Toilet Was Once a Small Cloth
A toilet is a lavatory. The word began as the French for a little cloth, and moved through dressing table, dressing room and washroom.
A toilet is a fixture and a room. Its meaning has moved further than almost any word in English: French *toilette* was a little cloth, from *toile*, fabric — the cloth spread on a dressing table. Then it meant the table, then the process of dressing and grooming, then the room where that happened, and finally the fixture in it. *Eau de toilette* still means grooming water, from the older stage.
- A lavatory. *The toilets are downstairs.*
- The fixture itself. *A blocked toilet.*
- Grooming (archaic). *At her toilet.*
- Toiletries — grooming products. *A bag of toiletries.*
- Eau de toilette — a light fragrance. *A bottle of eau de toilette.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | toilet | A public toilet. |
| Plural | toilets | The toilets. |
| Plural noun | toiletries | Travel toiletries. |
| French | toilette | Faire sa toilette. |
| Root | toile | Cloth. |
- The toilets are through the door on the left.British: the room.
- She spent an hour at her toilet.Archaic: grooming.
- Eau de toilette is lighter than perfume.The old sense survives.
What to call it, by country
- Britain — toilet, loo, lavatory; bathroom implies a bath
- United States — bathroom or restroom; toilet often means the fixture only
- Australia — toilet, or dunny informally
- Public signs — WC, from water closet, is understood almost everywhere
- The lesson — asking for the bathroom in Britain may get you a bath
French *toilette*, a small cloth, a diminutive of *toile*, from Latin *tela*, web or fabric. English borrowed it in the 1500s, and the meaning shifted repeatedly through euphemism.
Why does eau de toilette have toilet in the name?
Because toilette once meant grooming. Eau de toilette is water used while getting ready.
Is toilet rude in American English?
It is not rude but sounds blunt. Americans usually say bathroom or restroom for the room.