Archaic KJV Word
Room
Modern equivalent: place
What Was Lost
The social hierarchy embedded in 'room.' When Jesus said do not take the highest room at a feast, He meant do not claim the most honored position/seat/place. It was instruction about humility and social rank, not about picking a dining room. The Nativity's 'no room in the inn' meant no space/place, not that a hotel room was unavailable.
Closest Survivor in Modern English
make room (the phrase 'make room for' preserves the 'create space' meaning)
Peak Usage (1611)
KJV Luke 14:8 -- 'Sit not down in the highest room'; Luke 2:7 -- 'There was no room for them in the inn'
Died ~1750 (the 'place/space/position' meaning faded)
Narrowed from 'space/place/position/seat' to exclusively 'an enclosed chamber in a building,' obscuring passages about social rank and spatial availability.
What Replaced It
“place”
Generic; room-as-place specifically meant a designated position, often with social rank attached
“space”
Physical only; room carried social and hierarchical meaning -- your room at a banquet was your rank
“seat”
Furniture; room-as-seat meant your assigned position of honor or dishonor