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

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

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

Judging by its size and complexity, experts posit that the mosaic once decorated the floor of a triclinium, or formal Roman dining room. —Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Mar. 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

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