accubitum means A bench or sofa for reclining at a table; often used by ancient Roman and Greek nobility.
Why “accubitum” is a great word
A dining couch or bench for reclining during meals in the ancient classical world. From the Latin accubitum, from ad- ("to, at") and cubitum ("elbow, reclining position"), the word speaks to the posture of leaning on one's side. Unlike the general-purpose lectus, which served as a bed, or the semicircular stibadium of outdoor gardens, the accubitum was the appointed furniture of the indoor symposium and convivium. It was the worn marble of a Pompeian triclinium bearing the ghost-impression of a senator's elbow; the careful adjustment of plush cushions for a guest of honor; the communal geometry around a low table laden with grapes and wine—the deliberate architecture of leisure, framing the body in a state of civilized repose.
noun
- A bench or sofa for reclining at a table; often used by ancient Roman and Greek nobility.“This may have been an accubitum with magical qualities of procreation for sterile husbands who slept on this stone.”
- A round dining table.“The circular attic is roofed with a dome, and inside it the oval table - the accubitum - is set, and the disciples around it are untying their shoes.”
- A dining hall or refectory.“Half share of dining room on second story, fourth of open air apartment above the accubitum with half of porch, pylon, terrace, passage way and bake shop.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- accubation 90% match — The act or posture of reclining on a couch, as practiced by the ancients at meals. vs accubitum →
- triclinium 88% match — A couch for reclining at mealtimes, extending round three sides of a table, and usually in three parts. vs accubitum →
- discumbency 85% match — A reclining position at a meal table, as was apparently the manner in old times such as in Ancient Rome. vs accubitum →
- exedra 81% match — A semicircular recess, with stone benches, used as a place for discussion. vs accubitum →
- cubiculum 80% match — A small room, especially a bedroom, typically those small rooms found on the upper floor of a Roman house. vs accubitum →
- arcosolium 80% match — A tomb in an arched recess in a wall. vs accubitum →
- deipnosophy 79% match — debate or small talk at the dinner table vs accubitum →
- subsellium 78% match — A projecting ledge on the stalls in a church where persons might lean whilst standing during prayers; misericord. vs accubitum →