[L. lavābo, 1st pers. sing. fut. t. of lavāre to wash.]
1. Eccl. a. The ritual washing of the celebrant’s hands at the offertory, accompanied in the Roman rite by the saying of Ps. xxvi. 6, beginning Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas. b. The small towel used to wipe the priest’s hands. c. The basin used for the washing.
1858. Direct. Angl., Gloss. 232. Lavabo, the secreta oratio of the Priest when water is poured on his fingers before the Prayer of Oblation. [An incorrect explanation.]
1870. Rock, Text. Fabr., I. 203. These small liturgical towels got … the name of Lavabo cloths or Lavaboes.
1885. Pater, Marius, IV. xxiii. The … pontiff, as he … moved his hands … at the Lavabo, or at the various benedictions.
2. a. A washing trough used in some mediæval monasteries. b. A wash-stand. (In some mod. Dicts.)
1883. Mag. of Art, Dec., 47/1. We give a reproduction of … one aspect of the lavabo, or washing-trough, which gives its name to the lavatory.
