lavabo
/ləˈveɪbəʊ/noun
lavabo is spelled L-A-V-A-B-O: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lavabo means “A ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lavabo is lavabos or lavaboes.
How many letters and syllables are in lavabo?
| Letters | 6: L-A-V-A-B-O |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 59 million words; the 240,237th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lavabo?
Lavabo appears about once in every 59 million words in written English, the 240,237th 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).
How do you pronounce lavabo?
- UK /ləˈveɪbəʊ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-lavabo.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lavabo
- lavabos plural
- lavaboes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lavabo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A ritual involving the washing of one's hands at a church's offertory before handling the Eucharist.
- 2
The small towel used to dry the priest's hands following the ritual.
- 3
A washbasin, particularly (Christianity) the one in a church used in the ritual.
- 4
A trough used for washing at some medieval monasteries.
- 5
A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lavabo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense church washbasin:
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 lavabo come from?
From the Christian ritual, which was traditionally accompanied in Catholicism by a recitation of Psalm 25:6 (Psalm 26:6, in the Hebrew and in most modern translations) which in Latin begins with the word lavābō (“I will wash”). The sense of "room with a toilet" developed under the influence of lavatory and lav.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).