half-bath

• half bath

From half +‎ bath.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhæf ˌbæθ/

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• (Philippines) IPA^(key): /ˌhɐf ˈbɐːθ/

half-bath (plural half-baths)

1. (US) A short bath of the feet, limbs, and abdomen that only reaches up to the chest where the upper half of the body is typically kept dry with minimal splashing (especially with water temperature not above 95°F nor below 75°F, and usually prescribed for the sick or unwell as a form of hydrotherapy)
2. (Philippines) A short bath where the head, especially the hair, is kept dry (especially a shower bath at night before sleep)
   • 1937, Bureau of Health, Commonwealth of the Philippines, Monthly Bulletin of the Philippine Health Service‎^[1], volumes 17-18, Bureau of Printing, page 595:

     […] suction force which the thoracic cavity exerts upon the venous blood, the half bath is one of choice and found preference in patient with less robust natural constitution and particularly in those with cardiac weakness and in elderly persons suffering from sclerosis of the coronary arteries. The first baths are […]

• In some instances, a shower cap or a bath towel around the head may be recommended to keep one's hair dry.
• In the Philippines, it is commonly believed that sleeping with a head of wet hair is bad for one's health.

• full-bath
• shallow-bath

• hip bath
• sitz bath
• footbath
• shower bath
• plunge bath

• Simon Baruch, M.D. (1901) “Hydrotherapy”, in Hobart Amory Hare, M.D., editor, A System of Practical Therapeutics.‎^[2], Second edition, volume I, Philadelphia and New York: Lea Brothers & Co., pages 400-402
• Kneipp, Sebastian (1897) “Chapter V – The Baths.”, in My Will: A Legacy to the Healthy and the Sick‎^[3], New York: Joseph Koesel & Friedr. Pustet, The half-bath., pages 56-59
• M. G. Kellogg (1873) “The Half-Bath.”, in The Bath‎^[4], Frankfurt: Outlook Verlag GmbH, →ISBN, page 25