FromMiddle Englishlavatorie, fromLate Latinlavātōrium, fromLatinlavāre(“towash”) +-ium(forming places related to an activity). As a place to pan gold, viaSpanishlavadero.[1]Doublet oflavatorium andlaver.See alsolave.
lavatory (plurallavatories)
- Avessel orfixture forwashing,particularly:
- Alaver: awashbasin.
- (archaic) Abathtub.
- (Christianity) Apiscina: thebasinused forwashingcommunionvessels.
- (Christianity) Alavabo: thebasinused forwashingone'shands beforehandling theEucharist.
- (Christianity, usually figurative) Abaptismal font: thebasinused forbaptism,usedfiguratively for thewashing away ofsins.
- (construction, interior design) Aplumbingfixtureused forwashing: asink.
Their 'bathroom' included a toilet and alavatory but no bath.
2005, Michael W. Litchfield,Renovation,page325:Lavatories (bathroom sinks) are available in a blizzard of colors, materials, and styles.
2011, Sharon Koomen Harmonet al.,The Codes Guidebook for Interiors,page 288：:Anywhere a water closet is used, alavatory (ie, hand-washing sink) must also be installed.
- Handwashing as an act,particularly
- (Christianity) Thelavabo: theritualwashing ofhands beforehandling theeucharist.
- (Christianity) Theritualwashing ofhands afterusing thepiscina toclean thecommunionvessels.
- (obsolete) Aliquidused inwashing; alotion; awash; arinse.
- (dated) Awashroom: aroomused forwashing theface andhands.
2003, Gauvin A. Bailey,Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 1565-1610,page61:Even thelavatory, a vestibule to the refectory through which the novices would pass on their way to the recreation room, boasted a painting cycle.
- (euphemistic) Aroomcontaining atoilet: abathroom(US) orWC(UK).
Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.
2003, Rob Rachowieckiet al.,Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands,page44:People needing to use thelavatory often ask to use thebaño in a restaurant; toilet paper is rarely available, so the experienced traveler always carries a personal supply.
2014, “Verbatim Comments”, in Corey, Canapary & Galanis, editor,Caltrain 2014 On-Board Survey[1],Caltrain, retrieved30 July 2023, page 1:THERESTROOM ON THE OLDER TRAINS ARE TOO SMALL FOR AN ADULT. ONE CAN'T USE THE TOILET WITHOUT CONSTANTLY ELBOWING THE WALL. AIRPLANES HAVE LARGERLAVATORIES AND A BETTER USEABLE FAUCET.
- (UK, New England) Aplumbingfixture forurination anddefecation: atoilet.
1997,Slavoj Žižek,The Plague of Fantasies,page 4:In a traditional Germanlavatory, 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 Frenchlavatory, 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.
- (dated) Aplace towashclothes: alaundry.
- (obsolete) Aplace wheregold ispanned.
- (obsolete) Apavedroom in amortuary wherecorpses arekeptunder ashower ofdisinfectingfluid.
The euphemism for a room containing a toilet frequently refers to anaircraft lavatory orpassenger train toilet.
FromLatinlavātōrius.[2]
lavatory (notcomparable)
- (dated) Washing, or cleansing by washing.
- “lavatory”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “lavatory”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
Borrowed fromEnglishlavatory.
lavatory m (plurallavatories)
- public toilet
lavatory
- alternative form oflavatorie
, Oxford:Oxford University Press, launched 2000.