“A TOILET is also known as a LOO, JOHN, LAV, LATRINE, PRIVY, HOPPER and the HEAD.”

National Geographic 5,000 Awesome Facts, fact # 6 on toilets

There are many different terms when it comes to bathrooms but the universal word seems to be toilet.

However in different regions and different times we have other words to describe the toilet.

“Loo”

“Loo” is one word to describe the toilet that origins are unknown, but the theory is that it comes from the French phrase, “guardez l’eau”, which means “watch out for the water.” Medieval France people would shout “gardez l’eau!” before throwing out their waste from upper story windows onto the streets below, according to http://www.sunshelter.com. The saying eventually got shortened to the word “loo” and is commonly used in British culture.

“John”

From the website http://www.todayifoundout.com, the word to describe the toilet “John” originated in Britain around the 16th & early 17th century. It was derived from a Sir John Harrington which happened to be one of the 102 god-children of Queen Elizabeth I. He is responsible for inventing the first flushing toilet in Britain.

There were other names to describe the toilet before John Harrington such as Jacks or Jake’s, a popular name back then. Harrington actually named his new flushing invention the AJAX in reference to the past names but eventually the name John won out. So it became a trip to the John, and not the Jake.

“Lav”

The lav, http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/toilet, was often referred to public toilets in Britain. It came from the term “lavatory”, which came from the Latin word lavatorium, meaning wash basin or wash room. The term is still understood today, although it takes a more formal tone in American English.

“Latrine”

From languages.oup.com the word latrine have both roots in Latin and French. The word for wash is ‘lavore’ and evolved into latrine in mid 1600’s.

A latrine is different than a toilet, though, for a toilet offers a bowl to sit on, whereas a latrine is more like an outhouse. It’s usually communal, in a group or military barracks where you have to squat upon and less utilized in civilian situations. (www.wikipedia.org/latrine)

“Privy”

Privy comes from the Latin word ‘privatus’, (private) and is an old fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, or an outhouse. It comes from North England and Scotland, and originally meant a hidden place, or the sharing of secrets or private thoughts. (Webster’s New World dictionary)

Now it’s mainly used for special, or privy, council or a body of confidential advisers named by a ruler; hence a privy council.

“Hopper”

From the definitions of Oxford languages, a hopper is “a container for a bulk material such as grain, rock, or trash, typically one that tapers downward and is able to discharge its contents at the bottom.”

But it was a way to refer from the 1900’s when trains used to dump passengers excrement right onto the tracks out of the “hopper chute.” (www.dictionary.com) & (www.wordnik.com)

“Head”

The term “head” for a toilet was used for a marine toilet because of the location of the toilet on the earliest sailing ships. (www.illdexjournal.com)

At the bow of the ship there was usually a bust or a wooden figure at the head, and “since the wind was blowing from the rear to the front, the “head” (or front) of the ship was the best place for sailors to relieve themselves. So, when the shipmates went to the toilet, they went to the head.”

There are a few other terms used to describe toilets, such as “can”, “potty”, and “water closet”. It will be interesting to see if the word toilet will take on some more definitions throughout time. Maybe it will just be called “toy” in a few years. Or “tl” or just “let”. Who knew that toilets have such a history?