WC

See also: wc, w/c, and w.-c.

English

Alternative forms

• w.c.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌdʌbəlju ˈsiː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

WC (plural WCs)

1. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) Initialism of water closet: a lavatory; a toilet.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:toilet, Thesaurus:bathroom

   • 1880, William Blades, The Enemies of Books, page 54:

     In the summer of 1877, a gentleman with whom I was well acquainted, took lodgings in Preston-street, Brighton. The morning after his arrival, he found in the W.C. some leaves of an old black-letter book.

2. (proofreading) Initialism of word choice.
3. (sports) Abbreviation of world championship.

   Coordinate terms: WDC, WEC, WRC

4. (sports) Abbreviation of world cup.

   Coordinate terms: HWC, WCH, WHC

5. (in personal ads) Initialism of white couple.

   Hyponym: MWC

6. (strategy gaming) Initialism of world conquest.

Descendants

(water closet):

• → Czech: WC
• → Dutch: wc
• → Estonian: veetsee, vets
• → Finnish: WC, vessa
• → French: WC
• → Greek: βεσέ (vesé)
• → German: WC
• → Hungarian: WC
• → Polish: WC, wuce
• → Portuguese: WC
• → Romanian: WC, veceu
• → Serbo-Croatian: WC, vece

Translations

abbreviation for water closet

Bulgarian: WC n Czech: WC (cs) n Danish: wc (da) n, WC (da) n Dutch: wc (nl) m Faroese: vesi n Finnish: WC (fi) French: w.-c. (fr) m Hungarian: WC (hu), vécé (hu) Indonesian: WC Polish: WC (pl) n, w.c. (pl) n Spanish: WC Swedish: wc (sv) Ukrainian: WC

Anagrams

• C&W, CW, c/w

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [vɛː t͡sɛː]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

WC n (indeclinable)

1. WC

   Synonym: záchod

Further reading

• “WC”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Estonian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈveːtseː/

Noun

WC (genitive WC, partitive WC-d)

1. toilet, lavatory, WC

Declension

Declension of WC (type initialism)

	singular	plural
nominative	WC	WC-d
genitive	WC	WC-de
partitive	WC-d	WC-sid
illative	WC-sse	WC-desse
inessive	WC-s	WC-des
elative	WC-st	WC-dest
allative	WC-le	WC-dele
adessive	WC-l	WC-del
ablative	WC-lt	WC-delt
translative	WC-ks	WC-deks
terminative	WC-ni	WC-deni
essive	WC-na	WC-dena
abessive	WC-ta	WC-deta
comitative	WC-ga	WC-dega

Declension of WC (type initialism)

	singular	plural
nominative	WC	WC'd
genitive	WC	WC'de
partitive	WC'd	WC'sid
illative	WC'sse	WC'desse
inessive	WC's	WC'des
elative	WC'st	WC'dest
allative	WC'le	WC'dele
adessive	WC'l	WC'del
ablative	WC'lt	WC'delt
translative	WC'ks	WC'deks
terminative	WC'ni	WC'deni
essive	WC'na	WC'dena
abessive	WC'ta	WC'deta
comitative	WC'ga	WC'dega

Derived terms

• vets

Finnish

Etymology

From English WC.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋeːseː/, [ˈʋe̞ːs̠e̞ː]
• Rhymes: -eːseː

Noun

WC

1. WC (water closet)

Declension

Inflection of WC (Kotus type filee) singular plural nominative WC WC:t genitive WC:n WC:iden WC:itten partitive WC:tä WC:itä accusative WC WC:n WC:t inessive WC:ssä WC:issä elative WC:stä WC:istä illative WC:hen WC:seen WC:ihin WC:isiin adessive WC:llä WC:illä ablative WC:ltä WC:iltä allative WC:lle WC:ille essive WC:nä WC:inä translative WC:ksi WC:iksi abessive WC:ttä WC:ittä instructive – WC:in comitative – WC:ineen

Synonyms

• käymälä
• toiletti
• (men's) miestenhuone
• (women's) naistenhuone
• (dated) klosetti
• (colloquial) vessa
• (colloquial) veski
• (colloquial) hyyskä

Derived terms

• puucee
• puusee

compounds

• invalidi-WC
• inva-WC
• wc-allas
• WC-harja
• wc-istuin
• wc-paperi
• yleisö-WC

Further reading

• “WC”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 4 July 2023

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve.se/
• (Belgium) also IPA^(key): /we.se/

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Noun

WC m pl (plural only)

1. (plural only) WC (toilets)

Related terms

• water
• water-closet
• waters

German

Etymology

Borrowed from English WC.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ve(ː)ˈtseː/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Noun

WC n (strong, genitive WCs, plural WCs)

1. WC (water closet)

   Synonyms: Toilette, Klo, Wasserklosett

Declension

Declension of WC [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	WC	die	WCs
genitive	eines	des	WCs	der	WCs
dative	einem	dem	WC	den	WCs
accusative	ein	das	WC	die	WCs

Further reading

• “WC” in Duden online
• “WC” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

From English WC.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈveːt͡seː]
• Rhymes: -t͡seː

Noun

WC (plural WC-k)

1. water closet, toilet

Declension

Inflection (stem in long/high vowel, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	WC	WC-k
accusative	WC-t	WC-ket
dative	WC-nek	WC-knek
instrumental	WC-vel	WC-kkel
causal-final	WC-ért	WC-kért
translative	WC-vé	WC-kké
terminative	WC-ig	WC-kig
essive-formal	WC-ként	WC-kként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	WC-ben	WC-kben
superessive	WC-n	WC-ken
adessive	WC-nél	WC-knél
illative	WC-be	WC-kbe
sublative	WC-re	WC-kre
allative	WC-hez	WC-khez
elative	WC-ből	WC-kből
delative	WC-ről	WC-kről
ablative	WC-től	WC-ktől
non-attributive possessive – singular	WC-é	WC-ké
non-attributive possessive – plural	WC-éi	WC-kéi

Possessive forms of WC

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	WC-m	WC-im
2nd person sing.	WC-d	WC-id
3rd person sing.	WC-je	WC-i
1st person plural	WC-nk	WC-ink
2nd person plural	WC-tek	WC-itek
3rd person plural	WC-jük	WC-ik

Synonyms

• slozi
• klozet

Derived terms

• vécé
• WC-papír

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English WC, an initialism for water closet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²veːsə/, /vəˈseː/

Noun

WC m or n (definite singular WCen or WCet, indefinite plural WCar or WC, definite plural WCane or WCa)

1. WC; water closet (room containing a toilet, especially one in a commercial establishment)

   Synonyms: toalett, klosett

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

WC

Wikipedia ^pl

Alternative forms

• w.c., wc

Etymology

Orthographic borrowing from English WC.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vuˈt͡sɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: W‧C
• Homophones: w.c., wc, wuce

Noun

WC n (indeclinable)

1. lavatory, loo, toilet, water closet, WC

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ubikacja

Further reading

• WC in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• WC in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English WC.

Noun

WC m (plural WCs)

1. WC; water closet (room containing a toilet, especially one in a commercial establishment)

   Synonym: banheiro

Further reading

• “WC”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025