lavation

noun

la·​va·​tion lā-ˈvā-shən 

: the act or an instance of washing or cleansing

Did you know?

Lavation Has Latin Roots

It sounds logical that you would perform a lavation in a lavatory, doesn't it? And it is logical: both words come from Latin lavare, meaning, appropriately, "to wash." English picked up a few other words from this root as well. In medicine, the therapeutic washing out of an organ is lavage. There is also lavabo (in Latin, literally, "I shall wash"), which in English can refer to a ceremony at Mass in which the celebrant washes his hands, to the basin used in this religious ceremony, or to other kinds of basins. Even the word lavish, via a Middle French word for a downpour of rain, comes to us from lavare.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English lavacioun, from Latin lavation-, lavatio, from lavare

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

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Medical Definition

lavation

noun

la·​va·​tion lā-ˈvā-shən 

: the act or an instance of washing or cleansing

lavational

-shnəl, -shən-ᵊl 

adjective