Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)

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Synthĕsis

The Romans found the toga an inconvenient garment to wear while reclining at meals, and as the tunic alone was not considered suitable, they devised the synthesis, or vestis cenatoria, for use at such times. We know nothing of its form or appearance, except that it was a short and easy garment, of various colors, and was changed often during a feast by men of fashion (Mart. v. 79, 2). The same garment was usually worn at the Saturnalia (Mart.xiv. 11). The word is also applied to a collection of similar articles of dress of any kind, as a synthesis tunicarum (Mart.iv. 46). See Cena.