latrine
(ləˈtriːn)
Also 7 Sc. latron, lateran.
[a. Fr. (chiefly in pl. latrines), a. L. lātrīna privy, contr. f. lavātrīna, f. lavāre to wash.]
1. A privy, esp. in a camp, barracks, hospital, or similar place.
| 1642 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) II. 82 He also tirred the laterans in the Colledge, whereby the studentis had not sic naturall eisment as befoir. 1673–88 Fountainhall in M. P. Brown Suppl. Decis. (1826) III. 293 The public river of Tweed, whose use is common, and which dimits in the sea which is the latrons and receptacle of the universe. 1808 T. Craufurd Univ. Edin. 150, 1628 and 1629, the publick latrines..were built where now they stand. 1867 Standard 23 Nov. 3 The longer the occupation of the camp the greater necessity for good drainage, for making new and filling up old latrines. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 311 Cesspits are now discontinued in most barracks, and water latrines are used. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 59/1 Enamelled Earthenware Latrine. 1897 Hughes Mediterr. Fever v. 181 Latrines are for want of space often in close proximity to bed-rooms. |
2. attrib. and Comb. latrine rumour Services' slang, a baseless rumour believed to originate in gossip in the latrines; also absol.
| 1918 in Amer. Speech 1972 (1975) XLVII. 73 (title of unofficial newspaper) La Trine Rumor. 1925 in Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 140. 1929 F. A. Pottle Stretchers (1930) i. 15 A ‘latrine’, we learned, was not only a building, but also the name for any particularly exciting but quite unfounded rumour emanating therefrom. 1929 A. W. Wheen tr. Remarque's All Quiet on W. Front i. 15 Not for nothing was the word ‘latrine rumour’ invented; these places are the regimental gossip-shops and common-rooms. 1931 S. Southwold in Martial Medley 105 This short essay..confines itself mainly to the rumours current among the fighting forces, and generally referred to as latrine-rumours and dump-rumours. 1950 Partridge Here, There & Everywhere 76 Late in the [First] War, tersely (eine) Latrine—the English term being latrine-rumour. |
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Add: [2.] latrine pit.
| 1971 Community (E. Afr. Community) Apr. 8/1 The main breeding places were numerous flooded latrine pits which allow prolific mosquito breeding. 1990 Independent on Sunday 27 May (Sunday Rev. Suppl.) 15/2 They dig latrine pits. |