bathhouse

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A building with baths for communal use.

   […] a plethora of taverns, victuals, brew houses, hostelries, bathhouses, brothels, bearbaiting and bullbaiting arenas jostled for space with shops of stockfishmongers, garlicmongers, and bakemongers.

2. 2
   noun

   a building containing public baths

3. 3
   noun

   a building containing dressing rooms for bathers

4. 4
   noun

   A building where swimmers can change clothes.

5. 5
   noun

   A business with bath-like facilities, which chiefly serves as a place for sexual encounters, especially among men.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English bathhous, bathous, from Old English bæþhūs (“bathhouse”), equivalent to bath + house. Cognate with Dutch badhuis (“bathhouse”), German Badehaus (“bathhouse”), German Low German Baadhuus, Boodhuus (“bathhouse”), Danish badehus (“bathhouse”), Norwegian Bokmål badehus (“bathhouse”), Norwegian Nynorsk badehus (“bathhouse”), Swedish badhus (“bathhouse”).