Toilet

A toilet, loo, lavatory or WC is a plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes: urine and fecal matter. The word "toilet" can be used to refer to the fixture itself or to the room containing the fixture, especially in British English. In North American English the word "toilet" refers solely to the fixture itself and not to the room that contains it, thus asking for the "toilet" would seem indecent. Instead, the euphemisms bathroom, restroom, washroom, men's room or ladies' room are preferred.

The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro had flush toilets attached to a sophisticated sewage system, and a form of flush toilet was used in the Indus Valley Civilization. But although a precursor to the modern flush toilet system was designed in 1596 by Sir John Harington, the toilet didn't enter into widespread use until the late 19th Century, when it was adopted by the English upper class as a means to stratify themselves from the lower classes.