The Greek verb anakeimai means to recline, to lie back, or specifically to recline at a table for a meal — the typical posture for dining in Greco-Roman culture. It occurs about 14 times in the New Testament and is used prominently in the Last Supper narratives, showing the intimate setting of that final meal.
Table fellowship in the New Testament is deeply theological. That Jesus reclined at table with tax collectors and sinners (Matthew 9:10; Luke 5:29) was a scandalous statement of inclusion and acceptance. The Last Supper, where Jesus and the twelve were reclining together (Matthew 26:20; John 13:23, 28), is the context for the new covenant institution and the washing of feet — an inversion of social hierarchy at the very table of fellowship. The eschatological banquet (Revelation 19:9; Matthew 8:11 — 'will come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob') fulfills the table imagery: all of history's meals of fellowship point to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.