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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

ablution en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /əˈblu.ʃn̩/ (US)
  • (US) audio
  • /əˈbluː.ʃn̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English ablucioun (“cleansing of impurities”), from Old French ablution, and its source, Late Latin ablūtiō (“a washing away”), from abluō (“wash away”), from ab- (“away”) + lavō (“wash”).

Meanings

  1. (countable, uncountable) The act of washing something. ▸ Originally, the purifying of oils and other substances by emulsification with hot water; now more generally, a thorough cleansing of a precipitate or other non-dissolved substance.
  2. (countable, uncountable) The act of washing something. ▸ The act of washing or cleansing the body, or some part of it, as a religious rite.
    • Let water be brought to perform my ablutions, and let the pious Fakreddin be called to offer up his prayers with mine. 1786, William Beckford, Vathek; an Arabian Tale:
  3. (countable, humorous, literary, plural-normally, uncountable) The act of washing something. ▸ Washing oneself; bathing, cleaning oneself up.
    • He followed the steps of Bella, who soon conducted him to his chamber, and left him to those ablutions which a long ride along a sandy road had rendered particularly necessary. 1835, William Gilmore Simms, The Partisan, Harper, Chapter II, page 25:
    • She treats him not as a doddering old fool but as a man hampered in his movements by injury. Patiently, without baby-talk, she helps him through his ablutions. 2005, J. M. Coetzee, “Four”, in Slow Man, New York: Viking, →ISBN, page 28:
    • There are now indications that it has caused some Americans to become more spartan when it comes to ablutions. 2021 May 6, Maria Cramer, “See Fewer People. Take Fewer Showers.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
  4. (countable, uncountable) The act of washing something. ▸ The rinsing of the priest's hand and the sacred vessel following the Communion with, depending on rite, water or a mix of it and wine, which may then be drunk by the priest.
  5. (countable, uncountable) The act of washing something. ▸ wudu, ritual washing of the limbs and head performed immediately before prayer or holding the Quran
  6. (countable, uncountable) The liquid used in the cleansing or ablution.
    • Cast the ablutions in the main 1715–1720, Homer, “(please specify the book of the Iliad or chapter quoted from)”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
  7. (countable, qualifier:Eastern Orthodoxy, uncountable) The ritual consumption by the deacon or priest of leftover sacred wine of host after the Communion.
  8. (UK, countable, plural, plural-only, uncountable) The location or building where the showers and basins are located.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
ablutions Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

ablutioner · ablution block

Relateds

ablutive · abluent · ablutionary

Translations (60)

ar غُسْل (the act of washing or cleansing) · ru промыва́ние (the act of washing or cleansing) · it abluzione (the act of washing or cleansing) · it abluzioni (the water used in cleansing) · el πλύσιμο (the act of washing or cleansing) · bo ཁྲུས་ཆབ (the water used in cleansing) · tl ablusyon (the water used in cleansing) · tr iğtisal (the act of washing or cleansing) · nb vaskevann (the water used in cleansing) · ar وَضُوء (the water used in cleansing) · cs očista (the act of washing or cleansing) · bg проми́вка (the act of washing or cleansing) · fi peseytyminen (the act of washing or cleansing) · es ablución (Roman Catholic Church: a small quantity of wine and water) · cmn 沐浴 (the act of washing or cleansing) · pl ablucja (the act of washing or cleansing) · bo ཁྲུས་ཆུ (the water used in cleansing) · bo ཁྲུས་གསོལ (the act of washing or cleansing) · la ablūtiō (the act of washing or cleansing) · de Ablution (the act of washing or cleansing) · tr abdest suyu (the water used in cleansing) · fi pesuvesi (the water used in cleansing) · ro spălare (the act of washing or cleansing) · ru промы́вка (the act of washing or cleansing) · nl ablutie (the act of washing or cleansing) · de Waschung (the act of washing or cleansing) · ba йыуыныу (the act of washing or cleansing) · sv tvagning (the act of washing or cleansing) · ga ionladh (the act of washing or cleansing) · cs omývání (the act of washing or cleansing) · ba тәһәрәт (the act of washing or cleansing) · pt ablução (the act of washing or cleansing) · tl ablusyon (the act of washing or cleansing) · ar اِغْتِسَال (the act of washing or cleansing) · it abluzione (Roman Catholic Church: a small quantity of wine and water) · ru омове́ние (the act of washing or cleansing) · tr abdest (the act of washing or cleansing) · tr gusül (the act of washing or cleansing) · nb ablusjon (Roman Catholic Church: a small quantity of wine and water) · cs umývání (the act of washing or cleansing) · wyi karwarboun (the act of washing or cleansing) · ka ბანა (the act of washing or cleansing) · kmr destnivêj (the act of washing or cleansing) · io abluciono (the act of washing or cleansing) · ms wuduk (the act of washing or cleansing) · de Abwaschung (the act of washing or cleansing) · ja 沐浴 (the act of washing or cleansing) · bo ཁྲུས (the act of washing or cleansing) · cs mytí se (the act of washing or cleansing) · ar وُضُوء (the act of washing or cleansing) · kmr destnimêj (the act of washing or cleansing) · nl ablutie (Roman Catholic Church: a small quantity of wine and water) · nb rengjøring (the act of washing or cleansing) · fr ablution (the act of washing or cleansing) · nl rituele wassing (the act of washing or cleansing) · ro abluțiune (the act of washing or cleansing) · el νερό του καθαρμού (the water used in cleansing) · ka დაბანა (the act of washing or cleansing) · es ablución (the act of washing or cleansing) · nb vasking (the act of washing or cleansing)