discumbency

English

Etymology

From Latin discumbens, present participle of discumbere. See discubitory.

Noun

discumbency (uncountable)

1. (archaic) A reclining position at a meal table, as was apparently the manner in old times such as in Ancient Rome.
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC:

     among the Insticutionary rules of youth , he adviseth they might not be permitted to hear Iambicks and Tragedies before they were admitted unto discumbency or lying along with others at their meals

References

• “discumbency”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.