loo

See also: Appendix:Variations of "loo"

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /luː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /lu/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Etymology 1

Uncertain, although usually derived in some way from Waterloo, the site of Wellington's 1815 victory over Napoleon, likely via a pun based on water closet. Other suggested derivations include corruptions of French l’eau (“water”), lieu (“place”), lieux d’aisances (“'places of convenience': a lavatory”), lieu à l’anglaise (“'English place': a British-style lavatory”), bordalou (“a diminutive chamber pot”) or gardez l’eau (“'mind the water'”), via Scots gardyloo, formerly used in Edinburgh while emptying chamber pots out of windows; the supposed use of "Room 100" as the lavatory in Continental hotels; a popularisation of lew, a regional corruption of lee (“downwind”), in reference to shepherds' privies or the former use of beakheads on that side of the ship for urination and defecation; or a clipped form of the name of the unpopular 19th-century Countess of Lichfield Lady Harriett Georgiana Louisa Hamilton Anson, who was the subject of an 1867 prank whereby her bedroom's namecard was placed on the door to the lavatory, prompting the other guests to begin speaking of "going to Lady Louisa".

Noun

loo (plural loos)

1. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A lavatory: a room used for urination and defecation.
   • 1940, Nancy Mitford, chapter II, in Pigeon Pie, page 27:

     I suppose it is unreal because we have been expecting it [sc. World War II] for so long now, and have known that it must be got over before we can go on with our lives. Like in the night when you want to go to the loo and it is miles away down a freezing cold passage and yet you know you have to go down that passage before you can be happy and sleep again.

   • 2006, Garth Thompson et al., The Guide′s Guide to Guiding, 3rd edition, page 160:

     Ensure that the tents are well-sited and clean, rubbish bins empty, and that the loos have toilet paper.

2. (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) A toilet: a fixture used for urination and defecation.
   • 2009, Katharina Kane, Lonely Planet: The Gambia and Senegal, page 275:

     The lack of running water in rural areas often makes Western-style loos hygienic disasters. Suddenly the noncontact squat toilet doesn′t look like such a bad option any more (as long as you roll up your trouser legs).

   • 2010, Meegan Jones, Sustainable Event Management, page 206:

     Waterless urinals are a great way of keeping the guys out of the cubicle toilets, keeping the urine separated from the solid waste (when using composting loos) and reducing water consumption if you have flush loos.

Synonyms

• (room): See Thesaurus:bathroom
• (fixture): See Thesaurus:toilet

Derived terms

• loo paper
• loo roll
• loo room
• portaloo

Translations

toilet — see toilet

Etymology 2

Clipped form of halloo.

Interjection

loo

1. A cry to urge on hunting dogs.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene xi]:

     Edg. Pilicock sate on pelicocks hill, a lo lo lo.

Alternative forms

• 'loo; lo, lowe (obsolete)

Derived terms

• looky-loo
• loo in

Verb

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (now dialect, used with at, upon or infinitive) To urge on with cries of loo or (figuratively) by other shouting or outcry.
   • 1667, John Denham, Directions to a Painter‎^[1], ll. 21 f:

     And therefore next uncouple either Hound [sc. George Monck and Prince Rupert],
     And loo them at two Hares ere one be found.

Etymology 3

Clipped form of lanterloo.

Noun

loo (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of lanterloo: the card game.
   • 1675, [William] Wycherley, The Country-wife, a Comedy, […], London: Printed for Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC; republished London: Printed for T[homas] Dring, and sold by R. Bentley, and S. Magnes […], 1688, →OCLC, epilogue:

     And my Intreagues ſo baſhfully diſown / That they may doubted be by few or none, / May kiſs the Cards at Picque, Hombre,—Lu, / And ſo be taught to kiſs the Lady too; [...]

   • 1712 May, [Alexander Pope], “The Rape of the Locke. An Heroi-comical Poem.”, in Miscellaneous Poems and Translations. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, canto III:

     Ev'n mighty Pam that Kings and Queens o'erthrew,
     And mow'd down Armies in the Fights of Lu.

   • 1731, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Helsham, 16:

     Yet, ladies are seldom at ombre or lue sick.

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VIII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 80:

     On entering the drawing-room, she found the whole party at loo.

2. The penalty paid to the pool in lanterloo for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick.
3. An act that prompts such a penalty.
4. A game of lanterloo.
5. (figuratively) Any group of people.

Alternative forms

• lu, liew, lue (obsolete)

Derived terms

• for the good of the loo
• Irish loo
• limited loo
• loo club
• loo table, loo-table
• unlimited loo

 

Verb

loo (third-person singular simple present loos, present participle looing, simple past and past participle looed)

1. (transitive) To beat in the card game lanterloo.
   • 1847, Henry Cockton, The Love Match, page 232:

     He was seldom indeed without two good trumps, and therefore almost invariably loo'd those who stood.

2. To pay a penalty to the pool for breaking certain rules or failing to take a trick in lanterloo.
3. (figurative, now dialect) To pay any penalty to any community.

Translations

lanterloo — see lanterloo

Etymology 4

A 16th-century Venetian in a half-mask.

Pierrot's Embrace (c. 1900), featuring a loo.

From French loup (“wolf; mask, eyemask”). Doublet of lobo, lupus, and wolf.

Noun

loo (plural loos)

1. (fashion, obsolete) A half-mask, particularly (historical) those velvet half-masks fashionable in the 17th century as a means of protecting women's complexion from the sun.
   • a. 1685, Mary Evelyn, “The Fop-dictionary”, in Mundus Muliebris, page 18:

     Loo Mask. An half Mask.

Derived terms

• loo mask

See also

• domino mask

Etymology 5

From Hindi लू (lū), ultmately from Sanskrit उल्का (ulkā, “flame”).

Noun

loo

1. (India) A hot dust-bearing wind found in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and the Punjab.
   • 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would Be King”, in The Phantom 'Rickshaw and Other Tales, page 78:

     It was a pitchy black night, as stifling as a June night can be, and the loo, the red-hot wind from the westward, was booming among the tinder-dry trees and pretending that the rain was on its heels.

Etymology 6

Clipped form of lieutenant.

Noun

loo (plural loos)

1. (US, military, slang) A lieutenant.
   • 2012, J. D. Robb, New York to Dallas, Penguin, →ISBN, page 91:

     I asked my loo to let me escort you in. I wanted a moment to thank you personally.” “There's no need.” “So you said before, but there is. And was. I'll take you in to Lieutenant Ricchio.”

See also

• Lordy loo

Anagrams

• OOL

Dutch

Alternative forms

• lo

Etymology

From Middle Dutch lôo, from Old Dutch lō, *lōh, from Proto-West Germanic *lauh, from Proto-Germanic *lauhaz. Cognate with English lea and leigh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loː/
• Hyphenation: loo
• Rhymes: -oː
• Homophone: Loo

Noun

loo n or f (plural loo's or loon)

1. (historical, geography) a clearing in a forest
   • 1906, Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, page 41:

     De hooge strooken of plekken in of bij de lagere gronden droegen natuurlijk de bosschen en dus de loo's, die zich niet daarnaast over de drassige of dikwijls onder water staande landen konden uitbreiden.

     The high strips or places in or near the lower grounds naturally supported the woods and hence the loos, which could not extend beyond the swampy or often flooded lands.

2. (historical, geography) a forest on sandy soil with (many) clearings
   • 1930, Nomina geographica Neerlandica, page 9 & 10:

     Deze meent, dat lage de beteekenis heeft van: een van houtgewas ontbloote, vrije en open vlakte, een roding, een plek, die ontstaat, wanneer een loo wordt omgehakt.

     He thinks that low has the meaning of: a bare, free and open plain, a reding, a place that arises when a loo is cut down.

Derived terms

• Almelo
• Ermelo
• Hengelo
• Het Loo
• Twello
• Venlo
• Waterloo

Related terms

• Ansloo, Anslo (“Oslo”)

Estonian

Noun

loo

1. genitive singular of lugu
2. genitive singular of lood
3. genitive singular of loog

Verb

loo

1. present indicative connegative of looma
2. second-person singular imperative of looma

Galician

Verb

loo

1. first-person singular present indicative of loar

Manx

Etymology

From Old Irish lugu, comparative form of bec.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /luː/

Adjective

loo

1. comparative degree of beg (“small, minor”)

See also

• smoo

Portuguese

Verb

loo

1. first-person singular present indicative of loar

Spanish

Verb

loo

1. first-person singular present indicative of loar

Xhosa

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lôː]

Pronoun

lóo

1. Alternative form of lowo

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lôː]

Pronoun

lóo

1. Alternative form of lowo