Bathroom

A bathroom (also known as a restroom, washroom, toilet or lavatory) is where people go for personal hygiene activities. This includes use of the toilet, wash their hands, brush their teeth, take a bath, or take a shower. The room may also contain a sink, often called a "wash basin", “hair basin” or "hand basin" (in parts of the United States) and often a "lavatory." In the United States, "bathroom" mostly means "a room containing a lavatory." In other countries this is mostly called the "toilet". The word "bathroom" is also used in the United States for a public toilet or "restroom." Bathrooms also have bathroom cabinets.

A typical bathroom

History

Baths go back to 3,000 B.C. Usually, a town would have a special building for people to take baths, which sometimes were part of a religious ceremony. Starting in the 16th century, public baths started declining. People at this time started building baths inside their homes.

Variations

Usually, a full bath will have a toilet, a sink, a bathtub and/or a shower. If a bathroom has only a toilet and a sink, then it is called a half bath or a powder room. A master bath is connected to a master bedroom for the use of whoever lives in that bedroom and no one else.