English

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 figuratively) 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. (Britain, 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 **** disappears after we flush water is way in front, so that the **** 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 **** 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 **** 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 Wikisaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Wikisaurus:toilet

Derived terms

Related terms

• lavatorium

Translations

Adjective

lavatory ‎(not comparable)

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

References

1. ↑ "lavatory, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1902), Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• lavatory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• lavatory in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

French

Etymology

Borrowing from English lavatory.

Noun

lavatory m ‎(plural lavatories)

1. public convenience