Word of the Day: Lavation

Lavation (noun) lay-VAY-shun

Definition

: the act or an instance of washing or cleansing

Examples

“… we cannot keep the skin healthy without frequent lavations of the whole body in pure water. It is impossible to calculate the benefits of this simple practice.” — Walt Whitman, “Bathing, Cleanliness, Personal Beauty,” June 1846

“In Maycomb County, it was easy to tell when someone bathed regularly, as opposed to yearly lavations….” — Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960

Did You Know?

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.

My Take

Wow, another new word for me, one that I don’t think I have ever come across before. I must admit, when I first saw it, I did a double take. While the letters L‑A‑V‑A‑T‑I‑O‑N were on the screen, my mind processed L‑A‑C‑A‑T‑I‑O‑N or lactation. Instantly, transported to my favorite human body part, it took a moment before I realized the error. I guess it’s time I do a through lavation of my dirty mind– or not. 😛

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