different between closet vs lavatory

English

Etymology

From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) +? -et (“forming diminutives”), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close +? -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kl?z?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?kl?z?t/
• Rhymes: -?z?t

Noun

closet (plural closets)

1. One used to store food or other household supplies: a cupboard.
   1. • 1799 May 17, Jane Austen, letter:

        A Closet full of shelves... it... should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet.

2. (obsolete) Any private area, (particularly) bowers in the open air.
   • c. 1370, Robert Cicyle, l. 57 f.:

     A slepe hym toke
     In hys closet.

3. (now rare) Any private or inner room, (particularly):
   • 1776, Oliver Goldsmith, The Haunch of Venison, a Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare

     a chair-lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine

   1. (obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
      • 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, p. 206:

        Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette.

   2. (archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.
      • 1611, Bible (KJV), Matthew, 6:6:

        When thou prayest, enter into thy closet.

   3. (figuratively, archaic) A place of (usually, fanciful) contemplation and theorizing.
      • a. 1600, Robert Hooker, Of Lawes Eccl. and Politie, Ch. vii, § 24:

        ...abroad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets...

   4. (archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.
4. (obsolete) A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.
   • c. 1390, Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, §I, 934 ff.:

     Chaplayne? to þe chapeles chosen þe gate...
     Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als,
     In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entre?.

   • 1530, John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement, p. 206:

     Closet, chapelle.

5. A private cabinet, (particularly):
   1. (obsolete) One used to store valuables.
      • 1599, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar, Act III, Scene ii, l. 130:

        But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.

   2. (archaic) One used to store curiosities.
      • 1659, Elias Ashmole, Diary, p. 326:

        Mr. Tradescant and his wife told me they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their closet of curiosities when they died.

      • 1681, Marquis of Halifax, Seasonable Addresses to the Houses of Parliament in Concise Succession, p. 10:

        The late House of Commons have... seiz'd Closets and Writings without Information.

   3. (figuratively) A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.
      • 1530, Myroure of Oure Ladye, Ch. ii, p. 233:

        Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet of the maydens wombe.

      The closet can be a scary place for a gay teenager.

      He's so far in the closet, he can see Narnia.

6. (now chiefly Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side-room, (particularly):
   1. (US) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.
   2. (obsolete) Clipping of closet of ease, (later, Britain) clipping of water closet: a room containing a toilet.
7. (heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
   • 1572, J. Bossewell, Wks. Armorie, p. 12:

     A Closset is the halfe of the Barre, and tenne of them maie be borne in one fielde.

8. (Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.
9. A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.

Synonyms

• (place of fanciful theorization): armchair
• (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet
• (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom

Hyponyms

• (A small closet with built-in lock): locker
• (A small room used for storage): walk-in closet, storage room
• (A storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, pantry, larder, cabinet
• (A piece of furniture, used for storing clothes): wardrobe, armoire, press (Irish & Scots)
• (A piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, sideboard, cabinet, press (Irish & Scots), wardrobe (UK)

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Czech: klozet
• ? Spanish: clóset
• ? Welsh: closet

Translations

Adjective

closet (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Private.
2. Secret, (especially) with reference to gay people who are in the closet; closeted.

   He's a closet case.

See also

• out

Verb

closet (third-person singular simple present closets, present participle closeting, simple past and past participle closeted)

1. (transitive) To shut away for private discussion.

   The ambassador has been closeted with the prime minister all afternoon. We're all worried what will be announced when they exit.

2. (transitive) To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members.

   • 1856-1870, James Anthony Froude, History of England from the Fall of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Spanish Armada

     He had been closeted with De Quadra.

3. (transitive) To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement.
   • 1784, William Cowper, Tirocinium, or A Review of Schools, [1]

     See what contempt is fallen on human kind; […] See Bedlam's closeted and handcuff'd charge / Surpass'd in frenzy by the mad at large;

   • 1992, Toni Morrison, Jazz, p. 55,

     […] she had to look twice over her shoulder when the Gay Northeasters and the City Belles strolled down Seventh Avenue, they were so handsome. But this envy-streaked pleasure Alice closeted, and never let the girl see how she admired those ready-for-bed-in-the-street clothes.

Derived terms

• closeted
• closet oneself

See also

• come out

References

Anagrams

• colets, telcos

Old French

Etymology

clos +? -et.

Noun

closet m (oblique plural closez or closetz, nominative singular closez or closetz, nominative plural closet)

1. small enclosed area, such as a field or a paddock

Romanian

Etymology

From English (water) closet, via French (water-)closet and semi-calque German (Wasser)Klosett.

Noun

closet n (plural closete)

1. toilet, latrine, bathroom

See also

• baie
• toalet?

References

• Romanian vocabulary. In: Haspelmath, M. & Tadmor, U. (eds.) World Loanword Database. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Spanish

Noun

closet m (plural closets)

1. Alternative spelling of clóset

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kl?s?t/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English closet.

Alternative forms

• closed

Noun

closet m (plural closetau)

1. closet

Etymology 2

Inflected form of cloi.

Alternative forms

• cloet (colloquial)
• cloit (literary)

Verb

closet

1. (colloquial) second-person singular conditional of cloi

Mutation

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “closet”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

English

Etymology

From Middle English lavatorie, from Late Latin lav?t?rium, from Latin lav?re (“to wash”) + -ium (forming places related to an activity). Doublet of lavatorium. As a place to pan gold, via Spanish lavadero. See also lave.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?læv.?.t?i/, /?læv.?.t??.i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?læv.?.t??.i/

Noun

lavatory (plural lavatories)

1. A vessel or fixture for washing, particularly:
   • a. 1375, Lay Folks Mass Book, Appendix iv, p. 606:

     Whon he haþ vsed he walkeþ riht
     To Lauatorie þer hit is diht
     For to wassche his hende.

   • 1382, Bible (Wycliffe), Exod. 30:18:

     And thow shalt make a brasun lauatory with his foot to wasshe with.

   1. A laver: a washbasin.
   2. (archaic) A bathtub.
   3. (Christianity) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels.
   4. (Christianity) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist.
   5. (Christianity, usually figuratively) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins.
   6. (construction, interior design) A plumbing fixture used for washing: a sink.

      Their 'bathroom' included a toilet and a lavatory but no bath.

      • 2005, Michael W. Litchfield, Renovation, page 325:

        Lavatories (bathroom sinks) are available in a blizzard of colors, materials, and styles.

      • 2011, Sharon Koomen Harmon & al., The Codes Guidebook for Interiors, page 288?

        Anywhere a water closet is used, a lavatory (ie, hand-washing sink) must also be installed.

2. Handwashing, particularly
   • 1513, Robert Fabyan, last will and testament:

     W^t condicion that at the tyme of the Lavatory eueryche of theym turne theym to the people, and exorte theym to pray for ye soules following...

   1. (Christianity) The lavabo: the ritual washing of hands before handling the eucharist.
   2. (Christianity) The ritual washing of hands after using the piscina to clean the communion vessels.
3. (obsolete) A liquid used in washing; a lotion; a wash; a rinse.
   • 1490, William Caxton translating Publius Vergilius Maro as The Boke yf Eneydos, Ch. xxviii, p. 110:

     They must be wasshed wyth wyne or wyth some other lauatorye.

4. (dated) A washroom: a room used for washing the face and hands.
   • 2003, Gauvin A. Bailey, Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 1565-1610, page 61:

     Even the lavatory, a vestibule to the refectory through which the novices would pass on their way to the recreation room, boasted a painting cycle.

5. (euphemistic) A room containing a toilet: a bathroom (US) or WC (UK).

   Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.

   • 2003, Rob Rachowiecki & al., Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, page 44:

     People needing to use the lavatory often ask to use the baño in a restaurant; toilet paper is rarely available, so the experienced traveler always carries a personal supply.

6. (Britain, New England) A plumbing fixture for urination and defecation: a toilet.
   • 1997, Slavoj Žižek, The Plague of Fantasies, page 4,

     In a traditional German lavatory, the hole in which shit disappears after we flush water is way in front, so that the shit is first laid out for us to sniff at and inspect for traces of some illness; in the typical French lavatory, on the contrary, the hole is in the back - that is, the shit is supposed to disappear as soon as possible; finally, the Anglo-Saxon (English or American) lavatory presents a kind of synthesis, a mediation between these two opposed poles - the basin is full of water so that the shit floats in it - visible, but not to be inspected.

7. (dated) A place to wash clothes: a laundry.
8. (obsolete) A place where gold is panned.
9. (obsolete) A paved room in a mortuary where corpses are kept under a shower of disinfecting fluid.

Synonyms

• (basin for washing hands): See washbasin
• (fixture for washing hands): See sink
• (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

Related terms

• lavatorium

Translations

Adjective

lavatory (not comparable)

1. (dated) Washing, or cleansing by washing.

References

• lavatory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• lavatory in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English lavatory.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.va.t?.?i/

Noun

lavatory m (plural lavatories)

1. public toilet

Middle English

Noun

lavatory

1. Alternative form of lavatorie