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Synonyms

latrine

American  
[luh-treen] / ləˈtrin /

noun

  1. a toilet or something used as a toilet, as a trench in the earth in a camp, or bivouac area.

latrine British  
/ ləˈtriːn /

noun

  1. a lavatory, as in a barracks, camp, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of latrine

1635–45; < French < Latin lātrīna, short for lavātrīna place for washing, derivative of lavāre to wash

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Researchers collected 50 sediment samples from along the drain, which stretched roughly nine meters and carried waste from a communal latrine into a stream north of the fort.

From Science Daily • Dec. 21, 2025

There was no water, and the stench of the latrine was unbearable.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 18, 2025

In Turkey last August, Judd said she met with both Turkish families and refugees living in tents and containers “with one semi-functioning latrine for hundreds of people.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 29, 2024

The hall’s eventual ruins, which were later attested to as a latrine by the historian Suetonius, are located near and around the square.

From Washington Times • Jun. 20, 2023

Their job was to make sure no prisoner spent more than two minutes in the latrine.

From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.