large bathhouse
Archaic term for a large public bathhouse, typically from the Edo period or earlier. Not used in modern Japanese outside historical contexts.
In the Edo period, large bathhouses bustled as social hubs for commoners.
Compound of 大 (おお, 'large') and 湯屋 (ゆや, 'bathhouse'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is attested in Edo-period sources.