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rostra

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ros⋅tra

  [ros-truh]
Use rostra in a Sentence
–noun
a pl. of rostrum.
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ros⋅trum

  [ros-truhm]
–noun, plural -tra  [-truh] , -trums.
1. any platform, stage, or the like, for public speaking.
2. a pulpit.
3. a beaklike projection from the prow of a ship, esp. one on an ancient warship for ramming an enemy ship; beak; ram.
4. Roman Antiquity. (in the forum) the raised platform, adorned with the beaks of captured warships, from which orations, pleadings, etc., were delivered.
5. Biology. a beaklike process or extension of some part; rostellum.
6. British Theater. a raised platform or dais, esp. one with hinged sides that can be folded and stored within a relatively small space.
Origin:
1570–80; < L rōstrum snout, bill, beak of a bird, ship's prow (in pl., speaker's platform), equiv. to rōd(ere) to gnaw, bite (cf. rodent ) + -trum instrumental suffix, with dt > st

Synonyms:
1. stand, dais, podium, lectern.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ros·trum   (rŏs'trəm, rô'strəm)   
n.   pl. ros·trums or ros·tra (rŏs'trə, rô'strə)

  1. A dais, pulpit, or other elevated platform for public speaking.

    1. The curved, beaklike prow of an ancient Roman ship, especially a war galley.

    2. The speaker's platform in an ancient Roman forum, which was decorated with the prows of captured enemy ships.

  3. Biology A beaklike or snoutlike projection.


[Latin rōstrum, beak; see rēd- in Indo-European roots.]
ros'tral (-trəl) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

rostrum 
1542, from L. rostrum, name of the platform stand for public speakers in the Forum in ancient Rome. It was decorated with the beaks of ships taken in the first naval victory of the Roman republic, over Antium, in 338 B.C.E., and the word's older sense is "end of a ship's prow," lit. "beak, muzzle, snout," originally "means of gnawing," instrument noun form of rodere "to gnaw" (see rodent). Cf. claustrum "lock, bar," from claudere "to shut." Extended sense of any platform for public speaking is first recorded 1766. Plural form is rostra.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ros·trum
Pronunciation: 'räs-tr&m also 'ros-
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural rostrums or ros·tra /-tr&/
: a bodily part or process suggesting a bird's bill: as a : the reflected anterior portion of the corpus callosum below thegenu b : the interior median spine of the body of the basisphenoid bone articulating with the vomer
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

rostrum ros·trum (rŏs'trəm)
n. pl. ros·trums or ros·tra (-trə)
A beaklike or snoutlike projection.

ros'tral (-trəl) adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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