rostrum
Use Rostrum in a sentence
trəm noun, plural ros·tra [-truh] , ros·trums.
[-truh] , ros·trums. 1.
any platform, stage, or the like, for public speaking.
2.
a pulpit.
3.
a beaklike projection from the prow of a ship, especially 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.
Origin:
1570–80; < Latin rōstrum snout, bill, beak of a bird, ship's prow (in plural, speaker's platform), equivalent to rōd(ere) to gnaw, bite (cf. rodent) + -trum instrumental suffix, with dt > st
1570–80; < Latin rōstrum snout, bill, beak of a bird, ship's prow (in plural, speaker's platform), equivalent 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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To rostrum
00:10
Rostrum
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
rostrum (ˈrɒstrəm) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n , pl -trums, -tra | |
| 1. | any platform, stage, or dais on which public speakers stand to address an audience |
| 2. | a platform or dais in front of an orchestra on which the conductor stands |
| 3. | another word for ram |
| 4. | the prow or beak of an ancient Roman ship |
| 5. | biology, zoology a beak or beaklike part |
| [C16: from Latin rōstrum beak, ship's prow, from rōdere to nibble, gnaw; in plural, rōstra, orator's platform, because this platform in the Roman forum was adorned with the prows of captured ships] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
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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Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Example sentences
Males possess a characteristic patch of stiff hairs on the top of the rostrum.
Rostrum slightly longer than that of the brown or pink shrimp.
Its common name originates from its blunt snout, or rostrum.
On the side of the head, seven feet from the tip of the rostrum, are the eyes.
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