08:18 Nov 22, 2011 

While English speakers, and especially those having been exposed not necessarily to hot steam but at least to Oriental culture, might know what a hammam is, I for one tend to align it with what I have just discovered is the SOED definition: "An Oriental bathing establishment, a Turkish bath". IOW, I would not readily understand a hammam to be in a private home, however big. It's like the difference between a "spa" where dozens of people or more will go, and the "spa pool" where one (preferably two) relaxes in the privacy of one/two's own home. Or between "public baths" and "bathroom". Or maybe it's just that I haven't been sufficiently exposed to Oriental culture outside of a Lebanese girlfriend.