ablution
/əˈblu.ʃn̩/noun
ablution is a noun meaning “Originally, the purifying of oils and other substances by emulsification with hot water; now more generally, a thorough cleansing of a precipitate or…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled A-B-L-U-T-I-O-N and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 8 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of ablution is ablutions.
What does ablution mean?
noun
- 1
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
The act of washing or cleansing the body, or some part of it, as a religious rite.
- 3
Washing oneself; bathing, cleaning oneself up.
- 4
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
wudu, ritual washing of the limbs and head performed immediately before prayer or holding the Quran
- 6
The liquid used in the cleansing or ablution.
- 7
The ritual consumption by the deacon or priest of leftover sacred wine of host after the Communion.
- 8
UKThe location or building where the showers and basins are located.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce ablution?
- UK /əˈbluː.ʃn̩/
- US /əˈblu.ʃn̩/
Ablution has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ablution.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ablution
- ablutions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is ablution?
Ablution appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Ablution in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of washing or cleansing:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does ablution come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).