lavar
Spanish, verb/laˈbaɾ/
lavar is spelled L-A-V-A-R (5 letters) and appears 11 times per million words in written Spanish, the 6,498th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Lavar is a Spanish verb meaning “to wash” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Limpiar con un medio líquido, especialmente con agua”.
What does lavar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to wash
Los de por aquí vienen a este lavadero público para lavar la ropa.
- 2
to wipe, clear (disgrace, doubt, etc.)
- 3
to wash oneself
- 4
to wash a body part of oneself (e.g. hands, hair, etc.)
lavarse los dientes
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Limpiar con un medio líquido, especialmente con agua. 2. Quitar de algo una mácula, labe, tacha, defecto o impureza. 3. Hacer que el dinero obtenido por medio ilegales circule de manera fiscalmente legal. 4. Pulir o bruñir con un paño mojado el acabado de las paredes o blanqueo.
verb: 1. Referido a una tela o materiales similares, resistir más o menos al proceso de ser limpiado con agua (lavado). 2. Limpiar con medios líquidos la ropa o cualquier textil en general.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of lavar
- lavo first-person present singular
- lavé first-person preterite singular
- lavado participle past
- lavando gerund
- lavada feminine participle past
- lavados masculine participle past
- lavadas feminine participle past
- lavas indicative informal present
- lavás indicative informal present
- lava indicative present singular
- lavamos first-person indicative plural
- laváis indicative plural present
- lavan indicative plural present
- lavaba first-person imperfect indicative
- lavabas imperfect indicative second-person
- lavábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- lavabais imperfect indicative plural
- lavaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce lavar?
- /laˈbaɾ/
- [laˈβ̞aɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to lavar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is lavar in Spanish?
lavar appears 11 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).