{"id":3440,"date":"2019-08-29T18:40:38","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T18:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.medplushealth.ca\/?p=3440"},"modified":"2019-10-01T05:13:41","modified_gmt":"2019-10-01T05:13:41","slug":"the-history-of-the-commode-and-their-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.medplushealth.ca\/blog\/the-history-of-the-commode-and-their-development\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of the Commodes and Their Development"},"content":{"rendered":"

The commode, or as we more commonly refer to it, the toilet, is something everyone uses on a daily basis. It is the centerpiece of most modern bathrooms and iterations of the modern toilet date back over 5000 years. Over the years it has evolved from a hole in the ground to the modern and advanced models seen today. Even the meaning of the word commode has evolved over the years.<\/p>\n

In this blog, we will take a look at the history of the word and the fixture that we have come to refer to as the commode.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The History of The Word<\/h2>\n

The words original meaning refers to a chest of drawers. Over time, the meaning changed with the invention of the toilet.<\/p>\n

Abe Abbas on the spruce<\/a> explains:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn early 18th-century France, the word commode meant a chest of drawers or a cabinet for storing personal items. The word derives from the French word for “convenient” or “suitable.” <\/p>\n

Later on, “commode” was used to mean a particular type of cabinet that held chamber pots. And gradually it evolved to refer to a piece of wooden chair-like furniture that held the chamber pot. In the final stage of the word’s semantic drift, the term was used to refer to the porcelain plumbing fixture that replaced the chamber pot altogether\u2014the toilet. This usage of the term still exists today.\u201d <\/p>\n

The History of the Commode<\/h2>\n

Smithsonian.com<\/a> provides a quick and effective summary of the history of the commode and their development over the years:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe flush toilet was invented in 1596 but didn\u2019t become widespread until 1851. Before that, the \u201ctoilet\u201d was a motley collection of communal outhouses, chamber pots and holes in the ground. During the 11th-century castle-building boom, chamber pots were supplemented with toilets that were, for the first time, actually integrated into the architecture. These early bathrooms, known as \u201cgarderobes\u201d were little more than continuous niches that ran vertically down to the ground, but they soon evolved into small rooms that protruded from castle walls as distinct bottomless bays.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Historical Timeline Of The Commode<\/h2>\n

The commode has undertaken significant changes over the years. localhistories.org<\/a> provides a historical timeline of the history of the commode:<\/p>\n

Ancient Times<\/h4>\n