Laboratory \Lab"o*ra*to*ry\, n.; pl. Laboratories. [Shortened fr. elaboratory; cf. OF. elaboratoire, F. laboratoire. See Elaborate, Labor.] [Formerly written also elaboratory.] The workroom of a chemist; also, a place devoted to experiments in any branch of natural science; as, a chemical, physical, or biological laboratory. Hence, by extension, a place where something is prepared, or some operation is performed; as, the liver is the laboratory of the bile.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)