Potties

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A colloquial term for small, portable toilets used primarily for children
2. a playful nickname for restroom facilities designed with a child-friendly approach
3. an informal reference to makeshift or temporary toilet arrangements often seen in outdoor settings

Etymology: "Potties" is the plural of "potty", a noun for a small toilet made for children. The base word "pot" goes back through Old French "pot" and Vulgar Latin "pottum" to a Frankish "pottr" and, further back, Proto-Germanic "puttaz", which is also the ancestor of Old English "pott". So the core of the word is a vessel meant for holding liquids, and the lineage is Germanic and Frankish as much as Latin. The diminutive ending is what gives "potty" its nursery flavour. The suffix "-y" was added to "pot" in English, so the word means something like "little pot" and was used for the chamber pot a child sits on. The meaning has thus stayed very close to its physical origin: a container, shrunk to child size.

Synonyms: toilets, lavatories, restrooms, bathrooms, WC