commode

[kuh-mohd]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR commode ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a low cabinet or similar piece of furniture, often highly ornamental, containing drawers or shelves.

a stand or cupboard containing a chamber pot or washbasin.

a portable toilet, especially one on a chairlike frame with wheels, as for an invalid.

an elaborate headdress consisting chiefly of a high framework decorated with lace, ribbons, etc., worn perched on top of the hair by women in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Origin of commode

1680–90; < French < Latin commodus convenient, equivalent to com- com- + modus mode¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for commode

dresser, chiffonier, cap, cupboard, bathroom, washstand

Examples from the Web for commode

Contemporary Examples of commode

In that relationship, the lower-class king of his dingy domain is enthroned atop a commode and uses a toilet brush as a scepter.
Amazing Cate
Stanley Crouch
December 18, 2009

Historical Examples of commode

Again the old woman began to bustle about, and to open the drawers of her commode.
A Nobleman's Nest
Ivan Turgenieff
The imperial N may be seen on the corners of the console tables and on the commode.
The Old Furniture Book
N. Hudson Moore
They visited my room, and searched my commode and my trunks.
A Chambermaid's Diary
Octave Mirbeau
In a drawer of this commode yellow soap and a comb and brush.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend
Charles Reade
The commode is decorated with gilt ornaments worth a thousand pistoles.
The Correspondence of Madame, Princess Palatine, Mother of the Regent; of Marie-Adlade de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgogne; and of Madame de Maintenon, in Relation to Saint-Cyr
Charlotte-Elisabeth, duchesse d Orlans; Marie Adelaide, of Savoy, Duchess of Burgundy; and Madame de Maintenon

British Dictionary definitions for commode

commode

noun

a piece of furniture, usually highly ornamented, containing drawers or shelves

a bedside table with a cabinet below for a chamber pot or washbasin

a movable piece of furniture, sometimes in the form of a chair, with a hinged flap concealing a chamber pot

a woman's high-tiered headdress of lace, worn in the late 17th century

Word Origin for commode

C17: from French, from Latin commodus commodious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for commode

1786, "chest of drawers," earlier (1680s) name of a type of fashionable ladies' headdress, from French commode, noun use of adjective meaning "convenient, suitable," from Latin commodus "proper, fit, appropriate, convenient, satisfactory," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + modus "measure, manner" (see mode (n.1)). Meaning "chair housing a chamber pot" first attested 1851 from notion of "convenience."