lavatory

English

Etymology

From Middle English lavatorie, from Late Latin lavatorium, from Latin lavāre (“to wash”) + -ium (forming places related to an activity). Doublet of lavatorium. As a place to pan gold, via Spanish lavadero. See also lave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæv.ə.tɹi/, /ˈlæv.ə.təɹ.i/
• IPA^(key): /ˈlæv.ə.tɔɹ.i/

Noun

lavatory (plural lavatories)

1. A vessel or fixture for washing, particularly:
   • a. 1375 Lay Folks Mass Book, Appendix iv, p. 606:

     Whon he haþ vsed he walkeþ riht
     To Lauatorie þer hit is diht
     For to wassche his hende.

   • 1382, Bible (Wycliffe), Exod. 30:18:

     And thow shalt make a brasun lauatory with his foot to wasshe with.

   1. A laver: a washbasin.
   2. (archaic) A bathtub.
   3. (Christianity) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels.
   4. (Christianity) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist.
   5. (Christianity, usually figurative) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins.
   6. A plumbing fixture used for washing: a sink.

      Their 'bathroom' included a toilet and a lavatory but no bath.

      • 2005, Michael W. Litchfield, Renovation, page 325:

        Lavatories (bathroom sinks) are available in a blizzard of colors, materials, and styles.

      • 2011, Sharon Koomen Harmon & al., The Codes Guidebook for Interiors, page 288：

        Anywhere a water closet is used, a lavatory (ie, hand-washing sink) must also be installed.

2. Handwashing, particularly
   • 1513, Robert Fabyan, last will and testament:

     W^t condicion that at the tyme of the Lavatory eueryche of theym turne theym to the people, and exorte theym to pray for ye soules following...

   1. (Christianity) The lavabo: the ritual washing of hands before handling the eucharist.
   2. (Christianity) The ritual washing of hands after using the piscina to clean the communion vessels.
3. (obsolete) A liquid used in washing; a lotion; a wash; a rinse.
   • 1490, William Caxton translating Publius Vergilius Maro as The Boke yf Eneydos, Ch. xxviii, p. 110:

     They must be wasshed wyth wyne or wyth some other lauatorye.

4. (dated) A washroom: a room used for washing the face and hands.
   • 2003, Gauvin A. Bailey, Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 1565-1610, page 61:

     Even the lavatory, a vestibule to the refectory through which the novices would pass on their way to the recreation room, boasted a painting cycle.

5. (euphemistic) A room containing a toilet: a bathroom (US) or WC (UK).

   Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.

   • 2003, Rob Rachowiecki & al., Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, page 44:

     People needing to use the lavatory often ask to use the baño in a restaurant; toilet paper is rarely available, so the experienced traveler always carries a personal supply.

6. (UK, New England) A plumbing fixture for urination and defecation: a toilet.
   • 1997, Slavoj Žižek, The Plague of Fantasies, page 4,

     In a traditional German lavatory, the hole in which shit disappears after we flush water is way in front, so that the shit is first laid out for us to sniff at and inspect for traces of some illness; in the typical French lavatory, on the contrary, the hole is in the back - that is, the shit is supposed to disappear as soon as possible; finally, the Anglo-Saxon (English or American) lavatory presents a kind of synthesis, a mediation between these two opposed poles - the basin is full of water so that the shit floats in it - visible, but not to be inspected.

7. (dated) A place to wash clothes: a laundry.
8. (obsolete) A place where gold is panned.
9. (obsolete) A paved room in a mortuary where corpses are kept under a shower of disinfecting fluid.

Synonyms

• (basin for washing hands): See washbasin
• (fixture for washing hands): See sink
• (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

• lav, lavvy
• lavatory attendant
• lavatory basin
• lavatory bowl
• lavatory brush
• lavatory chain
• lavatory cleanser
• lavatory humor
• lavatory joke
• lavatory pan
• lavatory paper
• lavatory period
• lavatory seat
• lavatory stone
• lavatory style

 

Related terms

• lavatorium

Translations

sink — see sink

toilet — see toilet

Adjective

lavatory (not comparable)

1. (dated) Washing, or cleansing by washing.

References

• “lavatory”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “lavatory”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

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French

Etymology

Borrowed from English lavatory.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.va.tɔ.ʁi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lavatory m (plural lavatories)

1. public toilet

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Middle English

Noun

lavatory

1. Alternative form of lavatorie