English

Interjection

loo

1. A cry to urge on hunting dogs.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear, Scene xi, ll. 1857 f.:

     Edg. Pilicock sate on pelicocks hill, a lo lo lo.

Alternative forms

• 'loo; lo, lowe (obsolete)

Derived terms

• loo in

Verb

loo ‎(third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (now dialect, used with at, upon or infinitive) To urge on with cries of loo or (figuratively) by other shouting or outcry.
   • 1667, John Denham, "Directions to a Painter", ll. 21 f.:

     And therefore next uncouple either Hound [sc. George Monck and Prince Rupert],
     And loo them at two Hares ere one be found.

Etymology 2

Clipped form of lanterloo.^[2]

Noun

loo ‎(uncountable)

1. Alternative form of lanterloo: the card game.
   • 1675, W. Wycherley, Country-wife, 103:

     They...
     May kiss the Cards at Picquet, Hombre,—Lu,
     And so be thought to kiss the Lady too.

   • 1714, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, iii, 22:

     Ev'n mighty Pam that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
     And mow'd down Armies in the Fights of Lu.

   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Helsham, 16:

     Yet, ladies are seldom at ombre or lue sick.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, I, Ch. viii, p. 80:

     On entering the drawing-room, she found the whole party at loo.

2. The penalty paid to the pool in lanterloo for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick.
3. An act that prompts such a penalty.
4. A game of lanterloo.
5. (figuratively) Any group of people.

Alternative forms

• lu, liew, lue (obsolete)

Derived terms

Verb

loo ‎(third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. To pay a penalty to the pool for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick in lanterloo.
2. (figuratively, now dialect) To pay any penalty to any community.

Translations

Etymology 3

A 16th-century Venetian in a half-mask.

Pierrot's Embrace (c. 1900), featuring a loo.

From French loup ‎(“wolf; mask, eyemask”).^[3]

Noun

loo ‎(plural loos)

1. (fashion, obsolete) A half-mask, particularly (historical) those velvet half-masks fashionable in the 17th century as a means of protecting women's complexion from the sun.
   • a. 1685, Mary Evelyn, "The Fop-dictionary" in Mundus Muliebris, p. 18:

     Loo Mask. An half Mask.

Derived terms

• loo mask

See also

• domino mask

Etymology 4

From Hindi उल्का ‎(ulkā), from Sanskrit उल्का ‎(ulkā, “flame”).^[4]

Noun

loo

1. (India) A hot dust-bearing wind found in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, "The Man Who Would be King" in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, p. 78:

     It was a pitchy black night, as stifling as a June night can be, and the loo, the red-hot wind from the westward, was booming among the tinder-dry trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels.

Etymology 5

Of uncertain etymology, although usually derived in some way from Waterloo, the site of Wellington's 1815 victory over Napoleon, likely via a pun based on water closet.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10]} Other suggested derivations include corruptions of French l'eau ‎(“water”),^[7]lieu ‎(“place”),^[7][10][11]lieux d'aisances ‎(“'places of convenience': a lavatory”),^[8][9][12]lieu à l'anglaise ‎(“'English place': a British-style lavatory”), bordalou ‎(“a diminutive chamber pot”)^[7] or gare l'eau ‎(“'mind the water'”), via Scots gardyloo, formerly used in Edinburgh while emptying chamber pots out of windows;^{[7][10][13][14]} the supposed use of "Room 100" as the lavatory in Continental hotels;^[6][10] a popularisation of lew, a regional corruption of lee ‎(“downwind”), in reference to shepherds' privies or the former use of beakheads on that side of the ship for urination and defecation;^{[7][15][11][8]} or a clipped form of the name of the unpopular 19th-century Countess of Lichfield Lady Harriett Georgiana Louisa Hamilton Anson, who was the subject of a 1867 prank whereby her bedroom's namecard was placed on the door to the lavatory, prompting the other guests to begin speaking of "going to Lady Louisa".^[10][16]

Noun

loo ‎(plural loos)

1. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
   • 1940, Nancy Mitford, Pigeon Pie, Ch. ii, p. 27:

     I suppose it is unreal because we have been expecting it [sc. World War II] for so long now, and have known that it must be got over before we can go on with our lives. Like in the night when you want to go to the loo and it is miles away down a freezing cold passage and yet you know you have to go down that passage before you can be happy and sleep again.

   • 2006, Garth Thompson & al., The Guide′s Guide to Guiding, 3rd ed., p. 160:

     Ensure that the tents are well-sited and clean, rubbish bins empty, and that the loos have toilet paper.

2. (Britain, Australia, New Zealand) A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
   • 2009, Katharina Kane, Lonely Planet: The Gambia and Senegal, p. 275:

     The lack of running water in rural areas often makes Western-style loos hygienic disasters. Suddenly the noncontact squat toilet doesn′t look like such a bad option any more (as long as you roll up your trouser legs).

   • 2010, Meegan Jones, Sustainable Event Management, p. 206:

     Waterless urinals are a great way of keeping the guys out of the cubicle toilets, keeping the urine separated from the solid waste (when using composting loos) and reducing water consumption if you have flush loos.

Synonyms

• (room): See Wikisaurus:bathroom
• (fixture): See Wikisaurus:toilet

Derived terms

• loo paper
• loo roll

Translations

References

1. ↑ "† loo, v.²" and "loo, int." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1903), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. ↑ "loo, n.¹" and "loo, v.¹" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1903), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. ↑ "† loo, n.²" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1903), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
4. ↑ "loo, n.³" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1976), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
5. ↑ "loo, n.⁴" in the Oxford English Dictionary (1976), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
6. 1 2 Ross, Alan S.C. "Loo" in Blackwood's Magazine (October 1974), Vol. 316, pp. 309–316.
7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Loo" in Eric Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 8th ed. (1984), Abingdon: Routledge.
8. 1 2 3 "Loo" in Michael Quinion's World Wide Words (13 February 1999).
9. 1 2 "loo" in the Online Etymology Dictionary (2016).
10. 1 2 3 4 5 Muir, Frank. A Book at Bathtime (1982), Heinemann.
11. 1 2 "Loo" (17 July 1983) in John Silverlight's Words (1985), London: Macmillan Press.
12. ↑ "loo" in Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th ed., Cleveland: Wiley Publishing.
13. ↑ "gardyloo, n." in the Oxford English Dictionary (1898), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
14. ↑ Daiches, David. Was (1975), London: Thames & Hudson.
15. ↑ Nixon, Graham. "Loo" in Lore and Language (January 1978), Vol. II, No. 8, pp. 27–8.
16. ↑ Adams, Cecil. "Why Do We Call It the 'John'?" in The Straight Dope (18 October 1985), Sun-Times Media.

Estonian

Noun

loo

1. Genitive singular form of lugu.
2. Genitive singular form of lood.
3. Genitive singular form of loog.

Verb

loo

1. present indicative connegative of looma
2. second-person singular imperative of looma

Spanish

Verb

loo

1. First-person singular (yo) present indicative form of loar.