■ noun
1》 a large bowl for urinating or defecating into, typically plumbed into a sewage system; a lavatory.
2》 the process of washing oneself, dressing, and attending to one's appearance.
↘[as modifier ] denoting articles used in this process.
3》 the cleansing of part of a person's body as a medical procedure.
■ verb ( ~s , ~ing , ~ed ) [usu. as noun ~ing ] assist or supervise (an infant or invalid) in using a ~.
Word History
Toilet came from French ~te 'cloth, wrapper' and ultimately from Latin tela 'woven material, web'. In 16th-century English a ~ was originally a cloth for wrapping clothes, then a cloth cover for a dressing table, the articles used in dressing, and eventually the process of dressing and washing oneself. In the 19th century ~ came to denote a dressing room with washing facilities; from this the modern meaning of 'lavatory' arose in the early 20th century.