Ablution

//əˈbluː.ʃn̩// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The act of washing something.; Originally, the purifying of oils and other substances by emulsification with hot water; now more generally, a thorough cleansing of a precipitate or other non-dissolved substance. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    the ritual washing of a priest's hands or of sacred vessels wordnet
  3. 3
    The act of washing something.; The act of washing or cleansing the body, or some part of it, as a religious rite. countable, uncountable

    "Let water be brought to perform my ablutions, and let the pious Fakreddin be called to offer up his prayers with mine."

  4. 4
    The act of washing something.; Washing oneself; bathing, cleaning oneself up. countable, humorous, literary, plural-normally, uncountable

    "He followed the steps of Bella, who soon conducted him to his chamber, and left him to those ablutions which a long ride along a sandy road had rendered particularly necessary."

  5. 5
    The act of washing something.; The rinsing of the priest's hand and the sacred vessel following the Communion with, depending on rite, water or a mix of it and wine, which may then be drunk by the priest. countable, uncountable
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    The act of washing something.; wudu, ritual washing of the limbs and head performed immediately before prayer or holding the Quran countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    The liquid used in the cleansing or ablution. countable, uncountable

    "Cast the ablutions in the main"

  3. 8
    The ritual consumption by the deacon or priest of leftover sacred wine of host after the Communion. countable, uncountable
  4. 9
    The location or building where the showers and basins are located. UK, countable, plural, plural-only, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms
cleaning outdouchedouchingelutionelutriationenema

Example

More examples

"Sami performed ablution for the evening prayer."

Etymology

From Middle English ablucioun (“cleansing of impurities”), from Old French ablution, and its source, Late Latin ablūtiō (“a washing away”), from abluō (“wash away”), from ab- (“away”) + lavō (“wash”).

Related phrases

ablution block

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.