rostrum
rostrum Lexical Profile
rostrum Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A raised platform, stage, or stand on which a person stands to make a public speech, receive an award, or conduct an orchestra.
"The keynote speaker stepped onto the rostrum to address the crowded auditorium."
A beak-like projection, snout, or anterior extension on the head of an animal, such as the elongated snout of a dolphin, crustacean, or weevil.
"The marine biologist examined the narrow rostrum of the spinner dolphin."
The bronze-plated beak or ram projecting from the prow of an ancient warship, used to pierce the hulls of enemy vessels.
"Archaeologists recovered a heavy bronze rostrum from the ancient Mediterranean shipwreck."
• Rhymes for rostrum
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Latin rostrum ('beak, snout, or prow of a ship'), derived from the verb rodere ('to gnaw'). The sense of a speaker's platform comes from the Rostra in the Roman Forum, a public stage decorated with the bronze prows of warships captured at the Battle of Antium in 338 BC.