Washeteria

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌwɑʃəˈtɪɹiə/

Definitions

1. A commercial establishment that provides laundry services through the use of coin-operated washing and drying machines for public use
2. A location dedicated to laundering clothes where individuals can utilize shared machines for washing and drying garments
3. A facility offering self-service laundry options whereby patrons can operate washing and drying machines for cleaning clothes

Etymology: "Washeteria" is a blend of "wash" and "cafeteria," and the pairing makes the idea clear: a place where you wash your clothes the way you would eat from a cafeteria line, choosing your own machines and serving yourself. The model is the cafeteria, which by the early twentieth century was a familiar American institution of self-service, and the blend borrows its suffix to suggest that same do-it-yourself convenience. The coinage became especially associated with a trademark, Wash-a-teria, which was prominent in the southern United States during the 1930s. Brand names of this kind often became generic labels for the service they described, and that appears to be the path by which this term spread beyond a single company's signage.

Synonyms: laundromat, laundry, self-service laundry, washing station, cleaning facility