backhouse
backhouse noun: an outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.
Noun
backhouse (plural backhouses)
- An outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.
- […] to abstene […] fra all melting […] of talloun within thair bak hous […]1557, Edinburgh Burgh Records, volume III, page 17
- An outhouse: an outbuilding used as a lavatory.
- BACK'HOUSE... a necessary.1847, Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language
- […] the chlorides Mother was always throwing into the little outdoor backhouse […]1939, Christopher Morley, chapter II, in Kitty Foyle, page 23
- Synonyms:
- backside
Proper noun capitalized: Backhouse
Backhouse (plural Backhouses)
- A surname from Old English.
Synonyms of backhouse
Forms of backhouse
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | backhouses |
| alternative form | back-house |
| alternative form | back house |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Backhouses |
Origin of backhouse
From back + house.
From Old English bæchūs (“bakehouse”).
Questions about backhouse
- What does backhouse mean?
- Backhouse means an outbuilding behind the main building, or an annex attached to the rear of it; especially, a scullery or washhouse.
- What part of speech is backhouse?
- Backhouse can be a noun or a proper noun.
- What is the plural of backhouse?
- The plural of backhouse is backhouses.
Words near backhouse in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: backhouse (page history and authors); Backhouse (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-backhouse.wav.
Cite this entry: “backhouse.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/backhouse. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.