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Acommode is any of many pieces offurniture. TheOxford English Dictionary has multiple meanings of "commode". The first relevant definition reads: "A piece of furniture with drawers and shelves; in the bedroom, a sort of elaborate chest of drawers (so in French); in the drawing room, a large (and generally old-fashioned) kind of chiffonier." Thedrawing room is itself a term for a formal reception room, and achiffonier is, in this sense, a smallsideboard dating from the early 19th century.
Another meaning attested is awashstand, a piece of furniture equipped with basin, jug, and towel rail, and often with space to store thechamber pot behind closed doors. A washstand in the bedroom pre-dates indoor bathrooms and running water.
InBritish English, "commode" is the standard term for acommode chair, often on wheels, enclosing achamber pot—as used in hospitals and assisted living homes.[1] In the United States, a "commode" is now a colloquial synonym for aflush toilet.[2]
The wordcommode comes from theFrench word for "convenient" or "suitable", which in turn comes from the Latin adjectivecommodus, with similar meanings.
The term originates in the vocabulary ofFrench furniture from about 1700. At that time, acommode meant acabinet orchest of drawers, low enough so that it sat at the height of thedado rail (à hauteur d'appui). It was a piece ofveneeredcase furniture much wider than it was high, raised on high or low legs.[3]
Commodes were made byébénistes; the French word for "cabinet-maker" is derived fromebony, a black tropicalhardwood notable as a foreign luxury. The beautiful wood was complemented withormolu (gilt-bronzedrawer pulls). The piece of furniture would be provided with a marble slab top[4] selected to match the marble of thechimneypiece.
A commode occupied a prominent position in the room for which it was intended: it stood against thepier between the windows,[5] in which case it would often be surmounted by a mirror glass,[6] or a pair of identical commodes would flank the chimneypiece or occupy the center of each end wall.
Bombé commodes, with surfaces shaped in three dimensions, were a feature of therococo style calledLouis Quinze. Rectilinear neoclassical, orLouis Seize, commodes might have such deep drawers or doors that the feet wereen toupie—in the taperingturned shape of a child'sspinning top. Both rococo and neoclassical commodes might have cabinets flanking the main section, in which case such a piece was acommode à encoignures;[7] pairs ofencoignures or corner-cabinets might also be designed to complement a commode and stand in the flanking corners of a room. If a commode had open shelves flanking the main section it was acommode à l'anglaise; if it did not have enclosingdrawers it was acommode à vantaux.
Before the mid-eighteenth century the commode had become such a necessary article of furniture that it might be made inmenuiserie (carpentry), of solid painted oak, walnut or fruitwoods, with carved decoration, typical ofFrench provincial furniture.
In the English-speaking world,commode passed into cabinet-makers' parlancein London by the mid-eighteenth century to describechests of drawers with gracefully curved fronts, and sometimes with shaped sides as well, perceived as being in the "French" taste.Thomas Chippendale employed the term "French Commode Tables" to describe designs inThe Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Director (1753), andInce and Mayhew illustrated a "Commode Chest of drawers", plate xliii, in theirUniversal System of Household Furniture, 1759–62.John Gloag notes[8] thatCommode expanded to describe any piece of furniture witha serpentine front, such as adressing table, or even a chair seat.[9] Gloag points out thatThomas Shearer's designs for two "commode dressing chests" illustrated inThe Cabinet-Makers' London Book of Prices, 1788, plate 17, are repeated, but as "serpentine dressing chests", inThe Prices of Cabinet Work, 1797 edition.
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InBritish English, "commode" is the standard term for acommode chair, often on wheels, enclosing achamber pot—as used in hospitals and the homes of disabled persons.[1] (The historic equivalent is theclose stool, hence the coveted and prestigious positionGroom of the Stool for a courtier close to the monarch.) This piece of furniture is termed in French achaise percée ("pierced chair"); similar items were made specifically as moveablebidets for washing.
In the United States, a "commode" is a colloquial synonym for aflush toilet[2] particularly in theAmerican South.
...But Japan's biggest toilet maker has brought these high-tech features and more to its premiere line of commodes.
