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latrine

UK/ləˈtɹiːn/US/ləˈtɹiːn/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #4,862 of 15,258neutral

Other forms: latrines

A latrine is a simple toilet in a camp or a barracks. Dig a latrine, latrine duty, the camp latrines.

Siting one matters more than building it: keep it downhill and well away from any water supply, because contaminated water kills more people in camps and disasters than almost anything else. The Latin latrina is a worn-down form of lavatrina, a washing place.

Fubar Obfusco · Public domain

Definitions of latrine

  1. 1nounlatrineA simple toilet in a camp or barracks.C1

    “The soldiers dug a latrine at the edge of the camp.”

latrine is a toilet.

Where it comes from

Latin latrina is a contracted form of lavatrina, a washing place, from lavare, to wash. Lavatory is a relative.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *lewh₃-

  2. Latin

    lātrīna

  3. French

    latrine — latrine

  4. English, today

    latrine

From French latrine (“latrine”), from Latin lātrīna.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word

latrine in the wild

  • A pit latrine, also known as pit toilet, is a type of toilet that collects human waste in a hole in the ground.

    Pit latrine

  • Pit latrines can be built to function without water (dry toilet) or they can have a water seal (pour-flush pit latrine).

    Pit latrine

  • Chrysomya putoria, also known as the tropical African latrine blowfly, is a fly species belonging to the blowfly family, Calliphoridae.

    Chrysomya putoria

  • Fannia scalaris, also known as the latrine fly, is a fly species in the Fanniidae family.

    Fannia scalaris

  • However, in 1901 the discovery and publication of an inscription at Pergamon confirmed that the word does, as per secessus, in fact mean "latrine".

    Aphedron

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.