means Clothes, sheets, and other washable items that need washing, are being washed, or have just been washed — plus the act or place of doing that washing.

from From Middle English 'lavendry,' which came through Old French from Latin 'lavandaria' — 'things to be washed' — built on the verb 'lavare,' to wash, the same root that gives us 'lavatory,' 'lather,' and 'lavish.' The 'lavandry' eventually contracted into 'laundry,' and the person who did the washing became the 'launderer' or 'laundress.'