lavabo

See also: Lavabo

English

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”). 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.

Translations

church washbasin

• French: lavabo (fr) m
• German: Lavabo (de) n
• Greek: φιάλη αγιασμού f (fiáli agiasmoú)
• Italian: lavabo (it) m
• Russian: рукомо́йник (ru) m (rukomójnik)

lavatory — see lavatory

Catalan

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

Dutch

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

French

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

Descendants

• → German: Lavabo
• → Turkish: lavabo
• → Vietnamese: la-va-bô

Further reading

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

Italian

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

Synonyms

• lavandino

Latin

Verb

lavābō

1. first-person singular future active indicative of lavō

Norman

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

Portuguese

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /laˈva.bu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /laˈva.bu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /laˈva.bo/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈva.bu/ [lɐˈva.βu]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈva.bu/ [lɐˈva.βu]
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /lɐˈba.bu/ [lɐˈβa.βu]

• 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

Related terms

• lavar

 

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

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

Noun

lavàbō m (Cyrillic spelling лава̀бо̄)

1. sink, washbasin
2. lavabo

Declension

Declension of lavabo

	singular	plural
nominative	lavabo	lavaboi
genitive	lavaboa	lavaboa
dative	lavabou	lavaboima
accusative	lavabo	lavaboe
vocative	lavabou / lavaboe	lavaboi
locative	lavabou	lavaboima
instrumental	lavaboom	lavaboima

Related terms

• umivaonik

Spanish

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

See also

• lavamanos m

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

Turkish

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

Declension

Inflection
Nominative	lavabo
Definite accusative	lavaboyu
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	lavabo	lavabolar
Definite accusative	lavaboyu	lavaboları
Dative	lavaboya	lavabolara
Locative	lavaboda	lavabolarda
Ablative	lavabodan	lavabolardan
Genitive	lavabonun	lavaboların

Derived terms

• lavabo açıcısı
• lavabo bataryası
• lavabo musluğu
• lavabolu
• lavabosuz

 

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