Dictionary

lavatorium en · NOUN

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin lavātōrium. Doublet of lavatory and laver.

Meanings

1. (rare) A washroom or -place.
   • Tea break over, the next stage is the equivalent of the Roman lavatorium and all the patients are called for their communal washroom ablutions, only almost none of them volunteer themselves to wash, or shave. ‘Have you had the chance to shave anybody, yet?’ asks the Charge Nurse. 2010, Stephen Burrow, “Inviolable Protection”, in Buddleia Dance on the Asylum: A Nurse’s Journey through a Mental Hospital, Ely, Cambs.: Melrose Books, →ISBN, page 66:
   • [T]he attendant returned and invited her to go to the lavatorium. Here the Japanese girls were waiting, and they at once took possession of Esther; and placing her beneath a refreshing spray of luke-warm water, they began to massage her. 1903, Max Pemberton, chapter VII, in Doctor Xavier, 3rd edition, London: Hodder and Stoughton […], page 76:
   • Sakela wondered, not for the first time, at the city planning that placed the governor’s, constable’s and chief justice’s residences over the drains and left the heavily-used public lavatorium to the labor of the honey-wagon. The lavatorium was clean and the attendant held out a fresh cloth at the wash basin. 2014, Ada Robinson, chapter 10, in The New Sword, [Adams Basin, N.Y.]: Wildflowers Books, →ISBN:
2. (rare) A washroom or -place. ▸ Particularly, (architecture) the communal washing area in a monastery.
3. (rare) A lavatory.
   • So anyway, I began my journey meandering through the streets of Edinburgh, regretting the third cup of tea I’d had that morning. No matter, I thought, I know of a public lavatorium in Corstorphine (not a drug – actually an area of Edinburgh). 2017, Chris Young, “The Preamble and the First Few Days”, in Walk a Mile: Tales of a Wandering Loon, Newark, Notts.: Trigger Press, published 2018, →ISBN, page 234:
   • Before the dorm, we endured an equally enlightening and embarrassing hour and a half in the lavatorium, as they called it. All us boys were schooled in using the space-toilets, taking a space-shower, and brushing your space-teeth. 2023, Christopher P. Menkhaus, “It’s Not a War”, in I Was a Teenage MILAB: A Novel, [Indianapolis, Ind.]: TimeAlpha Media, →ISBN, section ii:
   • A visit to the toilet proves embarrassing. Luke directs me to ‘the lavatorium’, a room with a long wooden bench that has four seats with holes the size of dinner plates. 2015, Richard Graham, “The Fortress”, in Knight for a Day, London: Sagesse Press, →ISBN, page 48:
4. (historical, rare) A lavatory. ▸ An ancient Roman lavatory.
   • Do you need the lavatorium, Hilarious? I need to go. 2014, Jeanne Willis, “Julius Teaser: The World’s Worst Prankster”, in Hysterical Historicals (TreeTops Chucklers), Oxford, Oxon: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 37:
   • They say that because he’s missing so much of his liver, he can’t digest his food like normal people and hasn’t been to the lavatorium in years. They say he’s gonna blow like a volcano. 2008, Carolyn Hennesy, “Newly ‘Maid’”, in Pandora Gets Jealous, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 18:
   • After that, Probono fades into obscurity, save for a reference in the third volume of Caesar’s Gallic Suits pertaining to an inscription engraved on a wall in a public lavatorium which, freely translated, means “Probono gives it away-call MXC-IIVD.” 1985, S. Sponte [pseudonym; David J. Millstein], “To Wit: Pro Bono Publico, and how he grew”, in The Pennsylvania Lawyer, volume 7, Harrisburg, Pa.: Pennsylvania Bar Association, page 38, columns 2–3:
   • He barely made it to the lavatorium, throwing up again and again. 2010, Kate Quinn, chapter 11, in Mistress of Rome, London: Headline Review, →ISBN, page 164:
   • “The heating is back on, but we’ve got a big problem with the lavatorium,” Bumptius explained. “The toilet drains are still blocked with frozen poo.[…]” 2015, Shoo Rayner, Stinkius Maximus (Roman Brit; 3), London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN:

Forms