cubicle

English

Etymology

From Late Middle English cubicle, from Latin cubiculum (“bedroom”). Doublet of cubiculum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkjubɪkəl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Noun

cubicle (plural cubicles)

1. A small separate part or one of the compartments of a room, especially in a work environment.

   Most libraries provide cubicles for quiet study.

   • 1999, Mike Judge, Office Space (motion picture), spoken by Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston):

     I sit in a cubicle and I update bank software for the 2000 switch.

2. A small enclosure at a swimming pool etc. used to provide personal privacy when changing.
3. (UK, Australia) A small enclosure in a public toilet for individual use.
   • 2019 May 23, “Two female loos for every male one, experts recommend”, in BBC News‎^[1], retrieved 14 August 2019:

     With more urinals than cubicles, men - unlike women - rarely queue, a Royal Society for Public Health report says.

   • 2019 August 16, “Anti-sex toilets will soak users with water jets and sound alarm”, in Planet Rock‎^[2], retrieved 17 August 2019:

     The toilets will have weight-sensitive floors to make sure only one person is using each cubicle at a time.

Synonyms

• (toilet cubicle): stall (chiefly US)

Translations

a small separate part or one of the compartments of a room

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 斗室 (zh) (dǒushì), 斗居 (dǒujū)

• Czech: kóje f
• Finnish: koppi (fi)
• French: box (fr) m
• German: Arbeitsplatz (de) m; Kabine (de) f
• Hebrew: תָּא (he) m (ta)
• Hungarian: fülke (hu), (for the specified purpose) olvasófülke, irodafülke, próbafülke (hu), zuhanyzófülke, (for sleeping) hálófülke (hu), alkóv (hu)
• Irish: cubhachail m
• Malay: kubikel, pangsa
• Portuguese: baia (pt) f
• Russian: яче́йка (ru) f (jačéjka)
• Slovene: kabina f
• Turkish: kabin (tr), odacık (tr)
• Welsh: ciwbicl m

a small enclosure at a swimming pool etc. used to provide personal privacy when changing

• Czech: kabina (cs) f
• Finnish: pukukoppi (fi)
• French: cabine (fr) f
• German: Ankleidekabine f, Badekabine f, Umkleidekabine (de) f
• Hungarian: kabin (hu), öltözőfülke (hu), öltöző (hu)
• Irish: seomra gléasta m
• Malay: kubikel persalinan
• Russian: каби́нка (ru) f (kabínka), каби́на (ru) f (kabína)
• Slovene: kabina f
• Turkish: kabin (tr)

a small enclosure in a public toilet for individual use

• Czech: kabina (cs) f
• Finnish: istuinkoppi, (colloquial) pömpeli (fi)
• French: cabinet (fr) m
• Hungarian: vécéfülke, WC-fülke, fülke (hu)
• Malay: kubikel tandas
• Portuguese: reservado (pt)
• Russian: каби́нка (ru) f (kabínka), каби́на (ru) f (kabína)
• Swedish: bås (sv) n

Middle English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin cubiculum (“bedroom”).

Noun

cubicle (Late Middle English)

1. a bedchamber [15th c.]
2. (by extension) any small room

Descendants

• English: cubicle