Meanings
plural houses of office
- euphemisticobsoleteAn outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
The very clerks—those somewhat dirty springs Of office, or the House of Office.
1823, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto XI, §xl, ll. 123 f2 more examples
Going down my cellar to look, I put my foot into a heap of turds, by which I find that Mr Turner’s house of office is full and comes into my cellar, which doth trouble me; but I will have it helped.
1660 20 October, Samuel Pepys, diaryI never, since I left England, till now, have regal'd Myself with a good house of Office... the holes in Germany are... too round, chiefly owing... to the broader bottoms of the Germans.
1764 August 5, David Garrick, letterSynonyms: bathroom
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
Origin
From the mostly archaic sense of office as a "duty" or "function" and hence unmentionable "bodily functions".
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
house of office. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20office
“house of office.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20office. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “house of office,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/house%20of%20office.
Source: house of office on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.