accubation

Definition

The act or posture of reclining on a couch, as practiced by the ancients at meals.

Etymology

From Latin accubatiō, accubitiō, from accubō (“to recline”), from ad- + cubō (“to lie down”).

Example Sentences

• "Accubation was introduced in Rome after the first Punic War (264-241 BC). In Greece accubation was unknown at the time of the Homeric poems (cf. Od. i. 145 ἑξείης ἕζοντο κατὰ κλισμούς τε θρόνους τε, XV. 134 ἑζέσθην δ᾽ ἄρ᾽ ἔπειτα κατὰ κλισμούς τε θρόνους τε), but afterwards the Greeks and Romans adopted this Oriental fashion and lay very nearly flat on their breasts while taking their meals, or in a semi-sitting posture supported on the left elbow."
• "Accubation, or lying down at meals, was a gesture used by very many Nations."

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