Why do they call toilets wc

This differentiates the fixture from other bathroom items that can be installed, such as a urinal, that are approved to dispose of human waste. It is important to note that the reference is to the toilet only for the building code. In certain countries, such as Germany, the toilet is sometimes kept in a separate room from the rest of the bathroom or restroom. Some homes in the United States have adopted this design as well. WC is still used frequently today, but as a synonym for a toilet instead of a specific location or designation.

If it is found on the toilet itself, then this designation is usually intended to meet a building code requirement. It was used for the preparation of execution by guillotine, as described by Lord Ronald Gower in The ghastly ceremony of his toilette, as they call the pinioning and cutting off the hair at the back of his head. Toilet is still used in the medical field in this way. At this point, our discussion of toilet has been clogged with descriptions of grooming and washing, and you're probably wondering when we'll get to how and when the word came to refer to the bathroom toilet we are familiar with today.

We'll plunge into that now. In the late 18th century, toilet was transferred to the room where the grooming and washing occurred. In America, the room was most often one that included facilities for bathing, and when the water closet —which in the s referred to a room with a fixture for defecation and urination capable of being flushed, or to the fixture itself—was introduced into houses that could afford one, it was typically placed in the bathroom or toilet room.

In the late 19th century, toilet was transferred from the room to the fixture itself. Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free! Log in Sign Up. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. See also tree bog, not to be confused with the swampland meaning of bog. The Dunny is an Australian expression for an outside toilet. The person who appeared weekly to empty the pan beneath the seat was known as the dunnyman.

The word derives from the British dialect word dunnekin, meaning dung-house. The Privy is an old fashioned term used more in the North of England and in Scotland, a possible derivation meaning private place.

The Crapper is another term in general use, along with the word 'crap', meaning excrement. Crapper is the name of one Thomas Crapper, who is mistakenly associated with the invention of the modern flush toilet. He did have several patents related to plumbing, but the word "crap" predates him. Vin is used by some members of the English Aristocracy and upper classes. Although the word 'vin' is rarely used in modern England, some private schools in England still use the term, such as Summer Fields School a Prep School in Oxford.

In that school, it is against the rules to refer to the lavatory as 'the vin' when asking for permission to leave the room to relieve one's self.