lavatory UK /ˈlæv.ə.tɹi/US /ˈlæv.ə.t(ɔ)ɹ.i/noun 17adjective 1forms 1 noun17 •(formal, euphemistic) A room containing a toilet: a bathroom (US) or WC (UK).Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'. •(US, UK) A plumbing fixture for urination and defecation: a toilet. •(formal) A vessel or fixture for washing. •(formal) A laver: a washbasin. •(formal) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels. •(formal) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist. •(formal, figurative) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins. •(formal) A plumbing fixture used for washing: a sink.Their 'bathroom' included a toilet and a lavatory but no bath. •(formal, old-fashioned) A washroom: a room used for washing the face and hands.Even the lavatory, a vestibule to the refectory through which the novices would pass on their way to the recreation room, boasted a painting cycle. — 2003 •(formal, old-fashioned) A place to wash clothes: a laundry. •(formal) Handwashing as an act.Wᵗ condicion that at the tyme of the Lavatory eueryche of theym turne theym to the people, and exorte theym to pray for ye soules following... — 1513 •(formal) The lavabo: the ritual washing of hands before handling the eucharist. •(formal) The ritual washing of hands after using the piscina to clean the communion vessels. •(formal, no longer used) A bathtub. •(formal, no longer used) A place where gold is panned. •(formal, no longer used) A paved room in a mortuary where corpses are kept under a shower of disinfecting fluid. •(formal, no longer used) A liquid used in washing; a lotion; a wash; a rinse. adjective1 •(old-fashioned) Washing, or cleansing by washing. formslavatories
