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Reference.org
Close stool
open-in-new
<p>A close stool was an early type of <a href="/facts/Portable_toilet/5Cz8Jbr8">portable toilet</a>, made in the shape of a cabinet or box at sitting height with an opening in the top. The external structure contained a pewter or earthenware <a href="/facts/Chamberpot/eXexGCoz">chamberpot</a> to receive the user's excrement and urine when they sat on it; this was normally covered (closed) by a folding lid. "Stool" has two relevant meanings: as <a href="/facts/Stool_(seat)/E7qtfdHD">a type of seat</a> and as <a href="/facts/Human_feces/E55Ym1Cl">human feces</a>. Close stools were used from the Middle Ages (the <i><a href="/facts/Oxford_English_Dictionary/qaxKX8Bc">Oxford English Dictionary</a></i> gives the first citation as 1410) until the introduction of the indoor <a href="/facts/Flush_toilet/84csAWYE">flush toilet</a>. </p>