powder roomn.
/ˈpaʊdə ruːm/, /ˈpaʊdə rʊm/, U.S. /ˈpaʊdər ˌrum/, /ˈpaʊdər ˌrʊm/ 1. A room on board ship for the storage of gunpowder; a powder magazine. Now historical.Also occasionally: a powder store on land.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > room, locker, or quarters > [noun] > other specific rooms on naval vessel
powder room1582
powder magazine1712
engine room1749
pressroom1813
light box1860
wet room1970
1582 E. Fenton Jrnl. 27 June in E. G. R. Taylor Troublesome Voy. Capt. Edward Fenton (1959) 91 I stopped a leake in the Powder rowme in the Gallion.
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ii. 13 It is..very dangerous lying ouer the Powder-roome.
1672 H. Herbert Narrative in Camden Misc. XXX. 330 An unlucky fire taken in the powder roome and blowne up her steerage.
1724 ‘C. Johnson’ Gen. Hist. Pyrates v. 97 Thatch..had posted a resolute Fellow a Negroe, whom he had bred up, with a lighted Match, in the Powder-Room.
1759 London Mag. 28 32 The powder room..was be-aft.
1853 J. S. Barry Hist. Sketch Hanover, Mass. 64 This steeple was built..and..in the entry,..overhead, the powder room, in which the town's stock of powder was kept, during the revolution.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xviii. 239 Now and then a loud explosion announced that the flames had reached a powder room.
1932 New Eng. Q. 5 737 The boatswain was caught with several others burning brandy and smoking in the powder room.
1999 A. B. Feuer U.S. Navy World War I vi. 52 Sprinklers were turned on, and the powder room was flooded to prevent an explosion.
2.
a. = powder closet n. at powder n.1 Compounds 5. Now historical.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > places for styling hair > [noun] > for powdering the hair
powdering room1767
powdering closet1786
powder room1788
powder closet1848
1788 School for Fathers II. xlix. 238 Yesterday morning my mother came into the powder-room, while my maid was dressing my hair.
1899 Times 11 Mar. 17/2 Two double reception rooms, library, card or powder room, [etc.].
1908 ‘F. Danby’ Heart of Child xv. 250 He liked to see..his Staffordshire pottery en-niched in the quaint powder-room, opening out of the drawing-room.
1966 M. M. Pegler Dict. Interior Design (1967) 351 Powder room, originally a corner or small closet in the bedroom of an 18th-century house where one could go to have one's hair powdered.
2002 Sunday Times (Nexis) 3 Feb. A Queen Anne house... It has..a powder room on each of the four floors, where 18th-century gentlemen used to tend to their wigs.
b. Originally U.S. A women’s toilet, esp. in a hotel, shop, etc. Now also more generally (chiefly North American): a toilet, a bathroom; spec. a room in a private home containing a toilet and sink but no bathing facilities. Cf. to powder one's nose at powder v.1 4c.
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the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > sanitation > privy or latrine > [noun] > water-closet or lavatory > public > women's
ladies' room1825
ladies' cloakroom1862
ladies1918
women's room1918
powder room1927
1927 E. A. Park New Backgrounds for New Age ix. 173 They are the authors of the small powder room in the Hofbrau House at Broadway and Fifty-third Street, New York, a very modern creation.
1940 H. L. Mencken Happy Days iv. 69 We also had a powder-room in the backyard for the accommodation of laundresses, whitewashers and other visiting members of the domestic faculty.
1959 D. Du Maurier Breaking Point 219 The call-box was just opposite the ladies' powder room.
1994 Toronto Star 21 May j1/4 The lower floor..includes a powder room, a coat closet, and a family room.
2005 Sunday Times (Nexis) 12 June 20 The huge dining room came complete with gents' urinals and a ladies' powder room.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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