different between lavatory vs lava

English

Etymology

From Middle English lavatorie, from Late Latin lav?t?rium, from Latin lav?re (“to wash”) + -ium (forming places related to an activity). Doublet of lavatorium. As a place to pan gold, via Spanish lavadero. See also lave.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?læv.?.t?i/, /?læv.?.t??.i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?læv.?.t??.i/

Noun

lavatory (plural lavatories)

1. A vessel or fixture for washing, particularly:
   • a. 1375, Lay Folks Mass Book, Appendix iv, p. 606:

     Whon he haþ vsed he walkeþ riht
     To Lauatorie þer hit is diht
     For to wassche his hende.

   • 1382, Bible (Wycliffe), Exod. 30:18:

     And thow shalt make a brasun lauatory with his foot to wasshe with.

   1. A laver: a washbasin.
   2. (archaic) A bathtub.
   3. (Christianity) A piscina: the basin used for washing communion vessels.
   4. (Christianity) A lavabo: the basin used for washing one's hands before handling the Eucharist.
   5. (Christianity, usually figuratively) A baptismal font: the basin used for baptism, used figuratively for the washing away of sins.
   6. (construction, interior design) A plumbing fixture used for washing: a sink.

      Their 'bathroom' included a toilet and a lavatory but no bath.

      • 2005, Michael W. Litchfield, Renovation, page 325:

        Lavatories (bathroom sinks) are available in a blizzard of colors, materials, and styles.

      • 2011, Sharon Koomen Harmon & al., The Codes Guidebook for Interiors, page 288?

        Anywhere a water closet is used, a lavatory (ie, hand-washing sink) must also be installed.

2. Handwashing, particularly
   • 1513, Robert Fabyan, last will and testament:

     W^t 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...

   1. (Christianity) The lavabo: the ritual washing of hands before handling the eucharist.
   2. (Christianity) The ritual washing of hands after using the piscina to clean the communion vessels.
3. (obsolete) A liquid used in washing; a lotion; a wash; a rinse.
   • 1490, William Caxton translating Publius Vergilius Maro as The Boke yf Eneydos, Ch. xxviii, p. 110:

     They must be wasshed wyth wyne or wyth some other lauatorye.

4. (dated) A washroom: a room used for washing the face and hands.
   • 2003, Gauvin A. Bailey, Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 1565-1610, page 61:

     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.

5. (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'.

   • 2003, Rob Rachowiecki & al., Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands, page 44:

     People needing to use the lavatory often ask to use the baño in a restaurant; toilet paper is rarely available, so the experienced traveler always carries a personal supply.

6. (Britain, New England) A plumbing fixture for urination and defecation: a toilet.
   • 1997, Slavoj Žižek, The Plague of Fantasies, page 4,

     In a traditional German lavatory, the hole in which shit disappears after we flush water is way in front, so that the shit is first laid out for us to sniff at and inspect for traces of some illness; in the typical French lavatory, on the contrary, the hole is in the back - that is, the shit is supposed to disappear as soon as possible; finally, the Anglo-Saxon (English or American) lavatory presents a kind of synthesis, a mediation between these two opposed poles - the basin is full of water so that the shit floats in it - visible, but not to be inspected.

7. (dated) A place to wash clothes: a laundry.
8. (obsolete) A place where gold is panned.
9. (obsolete) A paved room in a mortuary where corpses are kept under a shower of disinfecting fluid.

Synonyms

• (basin for washing hands): See washbasin
• (fixture for washing hands): See sink
• (room with a toilet): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (toilet): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

Related terms

• lavatorium

Translations

Adjective

lavatory (not comparable)

1. (dated) Washing, or cleansing by washing.

References

• lavatory in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• lavatory in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English lavatory.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la.va.t?.?i/

Noun

lavatory m (plural lavatories)

1. public toilet

Middle English

Noun

lavatory

1. Alternative form of lavatorie

English

Etymology

From Italian lava (“lava”), originally, in Naples, a torrent of rain overflowing the streets, from lavare (“to wash”). See etymology for the English verb lave.

Pronunciation

• (US, UK) enPR: lä?v?, IPA^(key): /?l??v?/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?l??v?/, /?læv?/
• Homophone: larva (in non-rhotic accents)
• Rhymes: -??v?

Noun

lava (countable and uncountable, plural lavas)

1. The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
2. (informal, proscribed) Magma.
3. A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

Usage notes

Geologists make a distinction between magma (molten rock underground) and lava (molten rock on the surface).

Hyponyms

• cryolava

Derived terms

• lava flow

Related terms

• lava lamp
• lava millstone
• lava ware

Translations

See also

• aa
• pahoehoe

Anagrams

• Alva, aval

Azerbaijani

Noun

lava (definite accusative lavan?, plural lavalar)

1. lava

Declension

References

• “lava” in Obastan.com.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?la.v?/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?la.b?/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?la.va/

Noun

lava f (plural laves)

1. lava

Further reading

• “lava” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

Italian lava.

Noun

lava

1. lava

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: la?va

Noun

lava c (uncountable)

1. lava

References

• “lava” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

Estonian

Etymology

From Old East Slavic ???? (lava), from Proto-Slavic *lava

Noun

lava (genitive [please provide], partitive [please provide])

1. stage

Declension

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

• lava in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat

Finnish

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *lava (compare Estonian lava, Livonian lov?, Veps lava), borrowed from Proto-Baltic *l???w?? (compare Latvian l?va, Lithuanian lova).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l???/, [?l???]
• Rhymes: -???
• Syllabification: la?va

Noun

lava

1. bed (platform of a truck or other vehicle that supports the load)
2. platform (raised stage for speeches etc.)
3. stage (in a theatre etc.)

Declension

Compounds

• avolava
• kuormalava
• lavakuorma-auto
• lavashow
• lavasäteily
• tanssilava

Anagrams

• vala

French

Verb

lava

1. third-person singular past historic of laver

Anagrams

• aval

Galician

Pronunciation

Noun

lava f (plural lavas)

1. lava

Further reading

• “lava” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Italian

Verb

lava

1. third-person singular present indicative of lavare
2. second-person singular imperative of lavare

Noun

lava f (plural lave)

1. lava

Related terms

• lavico

Latin

Verb

lav?

1. second-person singular present active imperative of lav?

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Italian lava (Neapolitan dialect)

Noun

lava m (definite singular lavaen, indefinite plural lavaer, definite plural lavaene)

1. (geology) lava

Derived terms

• lavastrøm

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• lavene

Noun

lava m or n

1. definite neuter plural of lav

References

• “lava” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Italian lava (Neapolitan dialect)

Noun

lava m (definite singular lavaen, indefinite plural lavaer, definite plural lavaene)

1. (geology) lava

Etymology 2

Noun

lava n

1. definite plural of lav

References

• “lava” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?la.va/
• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /?la.v?/
• Hyphenation: la?va
• Rhymes: -av?

Etymology 1

From Italian (Neapolitan or Calabrese dialect), lava (“a torrent of rain which washed the streets”), from Latin lav? (“I wash”), from Proto-Indo-European *lowh?-

Noun

lava f (plural lavas)

1. lava (melted rock)

Related terms

• magma

Etymology 2

Verb

lava

1. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present indicative of lavar
2. second-person singular (tu, sometimes used with você) affirmative imperative of lavar

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?lava]

Noun

lava f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of lav?

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

láva f (Cyrillic spelling ?????)

1. (geology) lava

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

From Italian lava (“lava”) (Neapolitan dialect), from lavare (“to wash”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?laba/, [?la.??a]

Noun

lava f (plural lavas)

1. lava
2. washing

Verb

lava

1. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of lavar.

Swedish

Noun

lava c

1. lava

Derived terms

• lavalampa

Tokelauan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *lawa. Cognates include Hawaiian lawa and Samoan lava.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la.va/
• Hyphenation: la?va

Verb

lava

1. (stative) to be enough

Particle

lava

1. Expresses exclusiveness of the preceding word; just, only
2. Intensifies the preceding word; just (the same), right (now)
3. Forms a reflexive from the preceding personal pronoun; -self

References

• R. Simona, editor (1986) Tokelau Dictionary?^[2], Auckland: Office of Tokelau Affairs, page 181

Tsonga

Verb

lava

1. to want

Veps

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)Related to Finnish lava.

Noun

lava

1. floor
2. platform

Inflection

References

• Zajceva, N. G.; Mullonen, M. I. (2007) , “????????, ???, ??????”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovar? [New Russian–Veps Dictionary], Petrozavodsk: Periodika