A small building separate from a main house that contains a toilet, historically used before indoor plumbing became common.
From 'out' and 'house,' a simple English compound. The term became common in America during colonial times when indoor plumbing didn't exist, and it literally means a toilet house outside the main building.
Outhouses were positioned downwind from homes, and people actually studied which direction the wind blew before building them—this is an early example of applied environmental science done without scientific education, just practical observation.
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