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backhouse

noun

An outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.

Similar

OriginOld English bæchūs →

UncommonScrabble 20

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Meanings

backhouse¹

nounbackhouse (plural backhouses)

plural backhouses · alternative back-house · alternative back house

dialectalAn outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.
[…] to abstene […] fra all melting […] of talloun within thair bak hous […]
1557, Edinburgh Burgh Records, volume III, page 17
CanadaUSeuphemisticAn outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
BACK'HOUSE... a necessary.
1847, Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language
1 more example
[…] the chlorides Mother was always throwing into the little outdoor backhouse […]
1939, Christopher Morley, chapter II, in Kitty Foyle, page 23
Synonyms: backside

Backhouse²

proper nounBackhouse (plural Backhouses)

plural Backhouses

A surname from Old English.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.

Similar

Broader

backside house outbuilding

Also see

backside commons foreign kybo longhouse outhouse petty

Origin

backhouse · noun

From back + house.

Full word history & related roots →

Backhouse · proper noun

Old Englishbæchūs“bakehouse”
EnglishBackhouse

From Old English bæchūs (“bakehouse”).

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry

APA

backhouse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backhouse

MLA

“backhouse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backhouse. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “backhouse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/backhouse.

Source: backhouse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.