sauna
Americannoun
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saunas
plural
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a bath that uses dry heat to induce perspiration, and in which steam is produced by pouring water on heated stones.
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a bathhouse or room, usually of wood, equipped for such a bath.
verb (used without object)
noun
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an invigorating bath originating in Finland in which the bather is subjected to hot steam, usually followed by a cold plunge or by being lightly beaten with birch twigs
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the place in which such a bath is taken
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sauna
Borrowed into English from Finnish around 1880–85
Explanation
A sauna is a small therapeutic hot room. Some people use a sauna at the gym or pool, where they sit and relax, enjoying the cleansing heat. If there’s a separate steam room, then the sauna provides dry heat. In many Scandinavian countries, saunas are very common — in Finland, it's not unusual to have a sauna in or attached to your house. People who enjoy saunas find the steam, usually created by pouring water onto hot rocks, to be very relaxing and to have health benefits as well. The word sauna is Finnish, used to refer to both the structure of the room and the steam bath itself.
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.
See Examples For:
“A glass-and-timber gym, barrel sauna, outdoor soaking tub, multiple covered terraces, five-car garage, and parking for four additional vehicles complete the property,” reads the listing.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
A new Finnish study suggests that spending time in a sauna can temporarily move more white blood cells into the bloodstream.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
It has an infrared sauna and a huge hot tub that can fit up to like 20 people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
But the popular Korean spa, with its beloved “Buff” body scrubs and warm clay sauna, has become … well, crowded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Nyame’s land had turned into a giant sauna, and sweat beaded on my forehead.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
On the sidelines of some are saunas and bars where players can mingle between matches.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
And it has a spacious coed floor — called the “Main Hall” — with a full-service restaurant and the spectrum of saunas, including a Himalayan salt room, yellow clay room and cold room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
He and his wife have installed German-made saunas inside their residences, South Korea’s spy agency said in 2015.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
You cannot get it from towels, swimming pools, saunas or toilet seats as there is no skin-to-skin contact, says the NHS.
From BBC ● Jun. 2, 2026
I walk a frozen Bothnian Gulf at Nallikari, an obscured lighthouse, a delinquent lifeguard stand, and makeshift saunas stand on white expanse like archaeology.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
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.
