Related Searches
on Ask.com
rostrum - 6 dictionary results
ros⋅trum
[ros-truh
m] 
–noun, plural -tra [-truh] , -trums.
[-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
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.
1. stand, dais, podium, lectern.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source
|
Link To rostrum
| ros·trum (rŏs'trəm, rô'strəm) n. pl. ros·trums or ros·tra (rŏs'trə, rô'strə)
[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.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Rostrum
Ros"trum\ (-tr[u^]m), n.; pl. L. Rostra, E. Rostrums. [L., beak, ship's beak, fr. rodere, rosum, to gnaw. See Rodent.]1. The beak or head of a ship. 2. pl. (Rostra) (Rom. Antiq.) The Beaks; the stage or platform in the forum where orations, pleadings, funeral harangues, etc., were delivered; -- so called because after the Latin war, it was adorned with the beaks of captured vessels; later, applied also to other platforms erected in Rome for the use of public orators. 3. Hence, a stage for public speaking; the pulpit or platform occupied by an orator or public speaker. Myself will mount the rostrum in his favor. --Addison. 4. (Zo["o]l.) (a) Any beaklike prolongation, esp. of the head of an animal, as the beak of birds. (b) The beak, or sucking mouth parts, of Hemiptera. (c) The snout of a gastropod mollusk. See Illust. of Littorina. (d) The anterior, often spinelike, prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean, as in the lobster and the prawn. 5. (Bot.) Same as Rostellum. 6. (Old Chem.) The pipe to convey the distilling liquor into its receiver in the common alembic. --Quincy. 7. (Surg.) A pair of forceps of various kinds, having a beaklike form. [Obs.] --Coxe.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : rostrum
Spanish:
tribuna,
German:
die Rednerbühne,
Japanese:
演壇
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
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
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.
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
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.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Copyright © 2009, Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
