Word.ws English Dictionary

lavat'ry

/ˈlæv.ə.tɹi/

lavat'ry is the pronunciation spelling of lavatory.

Meaning of lavatory

Noun

lavatory (plural lavatories)

  1. (formal) A vessel or fixture for washing, particularly
    • Whon he haþ vsed he walkeþ riht
      To Lauatorie þer hit is diht
      For to wassche his hende.a. 1375, Lay Folks Mass Book, Appendix iv, p. 606
  2. (formal) A laver: a washbasin.
  3. (archaic, formal) A bathtub.
  4. (formal) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels.
  5. (formal) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist.
  6. (figuratively, formal, usually) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins.

See all 18 meanings of lavatory

Forms of lavat'ry

plurallavat'ries

Questions about lavat'ry

What is lavat'ry the pronunciation spelling of?
Lavat'ry is the pronunciation spelling of lavatory.
How do you pronounce lavat'ry?
Lavat'ry is pronounced /ˈlæv.ə.tɹi/ (UK).

Words near lavat'ry in the dictionary

  1. lavash
  2. lavashak
  3. lavashes
  4. lavastatin
  5. lavat'ries
  6. lavat'ry
  7. Lavater
  8. lavatera
  9. lavateras
  10. Lavaterian
  11. lavatic

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lavat'ry (page history and authors); lavatory (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.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-lavatory.wav.

Cite this entry: “lavat'ry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lavat%27ry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.