lavabo
UK/ləˈveɪbəʊ/
lavabo noun: a ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist.
Noun
lavabo (plural lavabos or lavaboes)
- A ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist.
- Synonyms:
- lavatory
- The small towel used to dry the priest's hands following the ritual.
- These small liturgical towels got […] the name of Lavabo cloths or Lavaboes.1870, Daniel Rock, Textile Fabrics, page 203
- A washbasin, particularly (Christianity) the one in a church used in the ritual.
- […] the […] pontiff, as he […] moved his hands […] at the Lavabo, or at the various benedictions […]1885, Walter Horatio Peter, Marius the Epicurean, Bk. iv, Ch. xxiii
- Synonyms:
- washbasin
- A trough used for washing at some medieval monasteries.
- A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
- Mr. Pond fussed out and she heard the door of the little lavabo in the passage open with a loud creak.1930, Dorothy L. Sayers, chapter XIV, in Strong Poision, page 177
- Synonyms:
- bathroom, latrine, necessarium, toilet, toilet room, urinal, water closet, WC, cloaca, closet
lavabo meaning in Tamil and Indonesian
lavabo in Tamil
- குளியலறை, கழிவறை
lavabo in Indonesian
- church washbasin
- lavabo
Synonyms of lavabo
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- closet
- jacques
- kocay
- siege
- cludgie
- netty
- six
- facilities
- necessary
- necessary room
- office of ease
- place
- potty
- small room
- smallest room
- throne room
- cottage
- geography
- khazi
- usual offices
- amenities
- restroom
- washroom
- comfort room
- CR
- closet of decency
- closet of ease
- house of office
- necessary place
- purging place
Forms of lavabo
| plural | lavabos |
|---|---|
| plural | lavaboes |
Origin of lavabo
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.
Questions about lavabo
- What does lavabo mean?
- Lavabo means a ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist.
- What is lavabo in Tamil?
- Lavabo in Tamil is குளியலறை, கழிவறை. See Lavabo meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is lavabo?
- Lavabo is a noun.
- How do you pronounce lavabo?
- Lavabo is pronounced /ləˈveɪbəʊ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lavabo?
- The plural of lavabo is lavabos.
Words near lavabo in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lavabo (page history and authors); lavabo (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-lavabo.wav.
Cite this entry: “lavabo.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lavabo. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.