/ ˈtɔɪlət; NAmE / noun
1.
[ C ] a large bowl attached to a pipe that you sit on or stand over when you get rid of waste matter from your body :
Have you flushed the toilet?
( BrE )
I need to go to the toilet (= use the toilet) .
a toilet seat
toilet facilities
Do you need the toilet ?
2.
( BrE ) ( NAmE bath·room ) [ C ] a room containing a toilet :
Every flat has its own bathroom and toilet.
Who's in the toilet?
3.
( BrE ) [ C ] (also toi·lets [ pl. ]) a room or small building containing several toilets, each in a separate smaller room :
public toilets
Could you tell me where the ladies' toilet is, please?
4.
[ U ] ( old-fashioned ) the process of washing and dressing yourself, arranging your hair, etc.
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BRITISH / AMERICAN
toilet / bathroom
In BrE , but not in NAmE , the room that has a toilet in it is usually referred to as a toilet . This room in people's houses can also be called the lavatory , or informally, the loo . An extra downstairs toilet in a house can be called the cloakroom . In public places, especially on signs, the words toilets , Gents (for men's toilets) or Ladies (for women's toilets) are used for a room or small building containing several toilets. You might also see WC or Public Conveniences on some signs.
In NAmE the room that contains a toilet is usually called the bathroom , never the toilet . A room with a toilet in a public place can also be called a restroom , ladies' room , women's room or men's room . Washroom is also used, especially in Canada.
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 16th cent.: from French toilette cloth, wrapper, diminutive of toile cloth, web, from Latin tela web. The word originally denoted a cloth used as a wrapper for clothes; then (in the 17th cent.) a cloth cover for a dressing table, the articles used in dressing, and the process of dressing, later also of washing oneself (sense 4). In the 19th cent. the word came to denote a dressing room, and, in the US, one with washing facilities; hence, a lavatory (early 20th cent.).