From Latin 'lavare' (to wash), from PIE *lewh3- — same root as 'lavender' (scent for washed clothes) and 'deluge.'
Clothes and linen that need to be washed, or that have been newly washed.
A contraction of 'lavandry,' from Old French 'lavanderie' (laundry, wash-house), from 'lavandière' (washerwoman), from Medieval Latin 'lavandāria' (things to be washed), from Latin 'lavanda,' the gerundive of 'lavāre' (to wash, to bathe), from PIE *lewh₃- (to wash). The PIE root also produced Latin 'lavātrīna' (bath, wash-place), which contracted to 'lātrīna' — the origin of English 'latrine.' Greek 'louein' (λούειν, to wash) descends from the same root