Plural of cloakroom; rooms where people can leave coats, cloaks, and personal items, typically at theaters, restaurants, or public buildings.
From cloak plus room, combined as cloakroom. This term emerged in the 18th-19th centuries with the rise of public venues that needed places for guests to store outerwear.
Before modern closets in homes, cloakrooms were essential—fancy theaters and restaurants wouldn't let you sit down in your heavy winter coat, so cloakrooms solved that problem!
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