lavabo

Etymology

From the Christian ritual, which was traditionally accompanied in Catholicism by a recitation of Psalm 25:6 (Psalm 26:6, in the Hebrew and in most modern translations) which in Latin begins with the word lavābō (“I will wash”).^[1][2] The sense of "room with a toilet" developed under the influence of lavatory and lav.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ləˈveɪbəʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

lavabo (plural lavabos or lavaboes)

1. (Christianity) A ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist.

   Synonym: lavatory

2. (Christianity) The small towel used to dry the priest's hands following the ritual.
   • 1870, Daniel Rock, Textile Fabrics, page 203:

     These small liturgical towels got […] the name of Lavabo cloths or Lavaboes.

3. A washbasin, particularly (Christianity) the one in a church used in the ritual.

   Synonym: washbasin

   • 1885, Walter Horatio Peter, Marius the Epicurean, Bk. iv, Ch. xxiii:

     […] the […] pontiff, as he […] moved his hands […] at the Lavabo, or at the various benedictions […]

4. (architecture) A trough used for washing at some medieval monasteries.
5. (humorous, euphemistic) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:bathroom

   • 1930, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter XIV, in Strong Poision, page 177:

     Mr. Pond fussed out and she heard the door of the little lavabo in the passage open with a loud creak.

References

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ləˈβa.βu]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ləˈva.bo]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [laˈva.bo]

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabos)

1. lavabo, washbasin, sink
2. toilet

   Synonym: vàter

3. (metonymically) bathroom

Etymology

Borrowed from French lavabo, from Latin lavābō (“I will wash”), first-person singular future active indicative of lavō, lavāre (“wash, bathe”, verb).

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: la‧va‧bo

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabo's, diminutive lavabootje n)

1. (Belgium) sink, washbasin

References

van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “lavabo”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lavābō (“I will wash”), first-person singular future active indicative of lavō, lavāre (“wash, bathe”, verb).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.va.bo/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabos)

1. washbasin

Further reading

• “lavabo”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈva.bo/
• Rhymes: -abo
• Hyphenation: la‧và‧bo

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabi or invariable)

1. sink, in particular of a bathroom
2. lavabo

Verb

lavābō

1. first-person singular future active indicative of lavō

Etymology

From Latin lavābō (“I will wash”), first-person singular future active indicative of lavō, lavāre (“wash, bathe”).

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabos)

1. (Jersey) washbasin

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lavābō (“I shall clean”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -abu
• Hyphenation: la‧va‧bo

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabos)

1. lavabo (washbasin, especially one used for ceremonious washing)

   Synonym: lavatório

2. (chiefly in the plural) lavatory (room containing a toilet)

   Synonyms: casa de banho, banheiro, lavatório, WC

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laʋǎboː/
• Hyphenation: la‧va‧bo

Noun

lavàbō m (Cyrillic spelling лава̀бо̄)

1. sink, washbasin
2. lavabo

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lavābō, first person singular future indicative of lavāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈbabo/ [laˈβ̞a.β̞o]
• Rhymes: -abo
• Syllabification: la‧va‧bo

Noun

lavabo m (plural lavabos)

1. bathroom sink, washbasin

Further reading

• “lavabo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Alternative forms

• lavobo (misspelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from French lavabo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (standard) /laˈva.bo/, (some speakers) /ɫaˈva.bo/, (in fast speech) /ˈlaːbo/, /ˈɫaːbo/
• Hyphenation: la‧va‧bo

Noun

lavabo (definite accusative lavaboyu, plural lavabolar)

1. washbasin
2. (euphemistic) toilet

   Synonym: tuvalet

Further reading

• “lavabo”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “lavabo”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Ayverdi, İlhan (2010) “lavabo”, in Misalli Büyük Türkçe Sözlük, a reviewed and expanded single-volume edition, Istanbul: Kubbealtı Neşriyatı
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “lavabo”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 3, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2881