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lavadouro

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word lavadouro

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1400s spelt lavadoiro More words from the 15th century
Ultimate origin
Latin lavō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin lavō
French laver
Italian lavare
Portuguese lavar
Portuguese lavadouro
Romanian la
Spanish lavar
From the same root
Latin dīluō ← lavō
Latin interluō ← lavō
Latin labrum ← lavō
Latin lautus ← lavō
Latin lavātōrium ← lavō
Latin lōtiō ← lavō
Latin perluō ← lavō
Portuguese lavadura ← lavō
French lavure ← laver
Italian lavatore ← lavare

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /la.vaˈdo(w).ɾu/, [la.vaˈdo(ʊ̯).ɾu][1]
  • Portugal: /lɐ.vɐˈdo(w).ɾu/, [lɐ.vɐˈðo(w).ɾu][1]
  • Northern, Portugal: /lɐ.bɐˈdow.ɾu/, [lɐ.βɐˈðow.ɾu][1]
  • Portugal, Southern: /lɐ.vɐˈdo.ɾu/[1]

Forms

lavadouro m (plural lavadouros)[1] The variant lavadoiro is the older form, recorded in the 15th century.[2][1] Feijó (1734) gives both.[3]

Etymology

Houaiss analyses it as formed from Portuguese lavar + -douro, on the stem of the participle lavado, and Michaelis and DELPo agree.[4][5][6] Wiktionary, Aurélio and Porto Editora instead take it from lavātōrium (“washing place”), which would make it a doublet of the learned lavatório.[1][7][8] The Latin word is formed on lavō (“to wash”).[1]

The Romance outcomes of the Latin noun are Galician lavadoiro, Spanish lavadero, Catalan llavador, Occitan lavador, French lavoir and Italian lavatoio.[9][10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates the form lavadoiro to the 15th century.[2] Houaiss first records lavadouro in the Monarquia Lusitana of 1597, which Bluteau quotes: mais geito tem de lavadouros de roupa “it looks more like places for washing clothes”.[4][11]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau (1712–1728) defines the word as the place and the stones where washerwomen wash clothes, and the two senses, the washing place or tank and the slanted stone on which clothes are soaped and scrubbed, are still the main ones.[11][4] Morais (1813) refers it to lavatório.[12] Technical senses followed: in printing, the tank where the formes are washed after printing; in the salt pans, a pit beside the salt bed where the salt is swept to clean it.[4] In northern Portugal it is also the communal washing tank of a village.[13]

Timeline

  • 15th century – lavadoiro.[2]
  • 1597 – lavadouros de roupa in the Monarquia Lusitana.[4][11]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau: the place and stones where washerwomen work.[11]
  • 1734 – Feijó lists lavadouro and lavadoiro.[3]
  • 1789 – Morais refers lavadouro to lavandeira.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A place or tank for washing clothes; a lavoir.[4][7][1]
  2. The stone or board on which clothes are soaped and scrubbed; a washboard.[4][8][1]
  3. (printing) The tank in which the formes are washed after printing.[4]
  4. (salt making) A pit beside the salt bed where the salt is swept to clean it.[4][8]

Adjective

  1. Used for washing clothes.[4][8]
  • lavar
  • lavatório
  • lavadeira
  • Galician lavadoiro
  • Spanish lavadero

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. lavar
  3. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lavadouro
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. lavadouro
  5. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. lavadouro
  6. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. lavadouro
  7. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. lavadouro
  8. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5607
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4952
  10. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. lavatorium
  11. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lavadouro
  12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 209
  13. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. lavadouro
  14. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 10
Cite this entry

“Lavadouro.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/lavadouro. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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