lavabo

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Pronunciation

• (British) IPA: /ləˈveɪbəʊ/

Noun

lavabo (plural lavabos)

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

   Synonyms: lavatory

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

   Synonyms: 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. (jocular, euphemism) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:bathroom

   • 1930, Dorothy L. Sayers, Strong Poision, Ch. xiv, p. 177:

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

Translations

• French: lavabo
• German: Lavabo
• Italian: lavabo
• Russian: рукомо́йник

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