Commode

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /kəˈməʊd/

Definitions

1. A piece of furniture with drawers or shelves for storage, or a toilet seat enclosed within a chair-like structure
2. An item of furniture that serves both as a storage unit with compartments and includes a toilet fixture often designed to resemble a chair
3. A type of furniture that functions as a storage piece with drawers or shelves and additionally features a concealed toilet seat for privacy

Etymology: The commode that stands in a bedroom with a toilet hidden inside is named after a rather modest quality. French "commode" meant "convenient," and the furniture took its name from that sense of handiness. The word began as a general adjective, used of anything that suited a purpose or fitted a need, and it later became attached to a particular kind of chest of drawers. The furniture itself came first. Rococo commodes, low chests with curving fronts and elaborate ornament, appeared in French workshops around 1760, and Neoclassical versions followed around 1780 with straighter lines and classical motifs. These were ornamental pieces for fine rooms, not sanitary fittings. The toilet meaning arrived later, when the same cabinet-like shape was adapted to conceal a chamber pot, and the word followed the furniture into that new role. The word is a doublet of "comodo," which came into Italian and Spanish from the same Latin source, so the English word shares its roots with related terms in neighbouring languages.

Synonyms: toilet, lavatory, bathroom, restroom, john