Lavandiers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals who wash clothes, particularly in a river or stream, often as a profession
2. People engaged in the washing and cleaning of textiles, traditionally performing this task near water sources
3. Those who carry out laundering activities, often historically associated with using natural water bodies for their work

Etymology: This is the plural of "lavandier," a launderer, borrowed from Old French "lavandier," which derives from Late Latin "lavandarius," meaning one who washes, from Latin "lavare," to wash. In French folklore, the "lavandière de nuit" is a ghostly washerwoman said to beat linen beside streams at night, and the old word keeps that association with water.

Synonyms: launderers, washers