house of easement

English

Etymology

From easement in its former euphemistic use to reference the easing of one's bowels.

Noun

house of easement (plural houses of easement)

1. (euphemistic, obsolete) An outbuilding in which to do one's easement (defecate): an outhouse.
   • 1508, Book of Keruynge:

     Se the hous of esement be swete & clene.

   • 2011, Lucy Worsley, “The Whole World is a Toilet”, in If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home, London: Faber and Faber, →ISBN, page 153:

     [T]he lowest servants at Hampton Court used the great communal toilet capable of seating fourteen people at once named the ‘Common Jakes’ or the ‘Great House of Easement’. This giant facility discharged into a tank which was washed clean by the waters of the moat. Even so, the tank emitted a dreadful smell and frequently had to be scrubbed clean.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:outhouse

Derived terms

• house of ease

Related terms

• do one's easement
• stool of easement