xenium

A gift or offering.

Noun

  1. A gift or offering.
    • At Rochester the Bishop received a xenium or pension on St. Andrew's Day from the convent. - 1872, Mackenzie Edward C. Walcott, Traditions and customs of cathedrals, page 136:

    1. (historical) A gift or offering given to a guest or a stranger, especially of food, in Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome.

Origin

Borrowed from Latin xenium, from Ancient Greek ξένιον (xénion), neuter accusative of ξένῐος (xénĭos, “pertaining to a guest”, adjective), ultimately from ξένος (xénos, “guest, stranger”). First attested in the 1700s.

Forms

xenia

Related

xenial