decumbiture

English

Etymology

From Latin dēcumbo (“lie or fall down”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪˈkʌmbɪtjʊə/, /dɪˈkʌmbɪtʃə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈkʌmbɪt͡ʃɚ/

Noun

decumbiture (plural decumbitures)

1. (obsolete) The fact of lying down, specifically of a person due to illness.
   • 1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, J. Roberts, page 34:

     It happened during my tedious and melancholy decumbiture...

2. (astrology, now historical) The time one takes to one's bed during an illness, as used for astrological prognostications; or a chart drawn up to express this.
   • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 277:

     By casting a figure for the decumbiture, or moment when the patient felt ill, and by resolving a question on the sight of his urine, the astrological doctor claimed to be able to diagnose the disease, prescribe the treatment, foretell when the sickness would reach its crisis, and prognosticate its eventual outcome.