loo

loo · noun¹

1. Scots · derived fromgardyloo
2. French · derived froml'
3. English todayloo

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 name-card was placed on the door to the lavatory, prompting the other guests to begin speaking of "going to Lady Louisa".

loo · interjection, verb²

Clipped form of halloo.

loo · noun, verb³

Clipped form of lanterloo.

loo · noun⁴

1. French · derived fromloup“wolf; mask, eyemask”
2. English todayloo

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

loo · noun⁵

1. Sanskrit · derived fromउल्का“flame”
2. Hindi · borrowed fromलू
3. English todayloo

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

loo · noun⁶

Clipped form of lieutenant.

Loo · proper noun⁷

* As a Dutch and north German surname, from loo (“wood, clearing”). * As a Chinese surname, spelling variant of Lu.

Words from the same roots