commode

commode

See also: Commode

English

Etymology

Rococo commode, from circa 1760

Neoclassical commode, from circa 1780

Borrowed from French commode (literally “convenient”). Doublet of comodo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈməʊd/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

commode (plural commodes)

1. A low chest of drawers on short legs.
2. A stand for a washbowl and jug.
3. (euphemistic) A chair containing a chamber pot.
4. (euphemistic) A toilet.
5. (historical) A kind of woman's headdress, raising the hair and fore part of the cap to a great height.
   • 1696, George Granville, The She-Gallants

     Now under high Commodes with Looks Erect,
     Bare-fac’d devours in gawdy Colours deck.

Synonyms

• (chamber pot): See Thesaurus:chamber pot
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

Related terms

• discommode, incommode
• bidet

Translations

low chest of drawers

Bulgarian: скрин (bg) (skrin) Esperanto: komodo Finnish: senkki (fi), matala lipasto French: commode (fr) f German: Kommode (de) f Italian: canterano m, angoliera f, cantoniera f Macedonian: комода f (komoda) Russian: комо́д (ru) m (komód) Spanish: cómoda (es) f Swedish: kommod (sv)

stand for a washbowl and jug

Bulgarian: подвижен умивалник Finnish: pesuvatiteline Italian: porta bacinella m, porta catino m

euphemistic: toilet

Bulgarian: тоалетна (bg) (toaletna) Esperanto: klozeto, (euphemistic) necesejo Finnish: pönttö (fi) French: selle (fr) f Italian: gabinetto (it) m, cesso (it) m

See also

• air commode (unrelated etymology)

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin commodus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.mɔd/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

commode (plural commodes)

1. convenient; expedient

Derived terms

• accommoder
• incommode
  • incommoder

Descendants

• → German: kommod

Noun

commode f (plural commodes)

1. chest of drawers, commode, dresser
2. (Louisiana) toilet

Descendants

• → Danish: kommode
• → German: Kommode
• → English: commode
• → Icelandic: kommóða
• → Italian: comodino
• → Norman: commode
• → Norwegian: kommode
• → Russian: комод (komod)
• → Swedish: kommod
• → Persian: کمد‎ (komod)

Further reading

• “commode”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkom.mo.de/

Adjective

commode

1. comfortable

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Latin

Adverb

commodē (comparative commodius, superlative commodissimē)

1. conveniently
2. aptly, suitably

Adjective

commode

1. vocative masculine singular of commodus

References

• “commode”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “commode”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• commode in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • (ambiguous) to indulge in apt witticisms: facete et commode dicere
    
  • (ambiguous) a short, pointed witticism: breviter et commode dictum
    

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Norman

Etymology

Borrowed from French commode.

Noun

commode f (plural commodes)

1. (Jersey) tallboy