triclinium

noun

tri·​clin·​i·​um trī-ˈkli-nē-əm 

plural triclinia trī-ˈkli-nē-ə 

1

: a couch extending around three sides of a table used by the ancient Romans for reclining at meals

2

: a dining room furnished with a triclinium

Examples of triclinium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The summer dining room in the House of Caro in Pompeii, for example, has a triclinium whose stone benches formed a U-shape around the room with a central open pit for a table and likely would have been softened with pillows and blankets. — Kate Reggev, Architectural Digest, 28 June 2024

Both bodies were found lying on a triclinium eating space in what was likely the home’s dining room. — Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 May 2022

Onlookers can witness the traditional cutting of the grapes and visit the wine cellar and a triclinium. — Rebecca Ann Hughes, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2021

Visitors passed through an Egyptian Hall of the Kings and then into a reproduction 15,000-square-foot Roman house, complete with sunken atrium and a triclinium — dining room — with the sort of couches Romans reclined on while eating. — Washington Post, 3 Apr. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Latin, from Greek triklinion, from tri- + klinein to lean, recline — more at lean

First Known Use

1646, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for triclinium

• minium
• actinium
• dominium
• condominium
• gadolinium
• pyridinium