rostrum

noun

ros·​trum ˈrä-strəm 

also

ˈrȯ- 

plural rostra ˈrä-strə 

 also  ˈrȯ-

or rostrums

1

[Latin Rostra, plural, a platform for speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with the beaks of captured ships, from plural of rostrum]

a

: an ancient Roman platform for public orators

b

: a stage for public speaking

c

: a raised platform on a stage

2

: the curved end of a ship's prow

especially : the beak of a war galley

3

: a bodily part or process suggesting a bird's bill: such as

a

: the beak, snout, or proboscis of any of various insects or arachnids

b

: the often spinelike anterior median prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean (such as a crayfish or lobster)

Synonyms

• dais
• platform
• podium
• stage
• stand
• tribune

Examples of rostrum in a Sentence

stood on a rostrum to address the huge crowd

Recent Examples on the Web

Two weeks ago, auctioneer Phyllis Kao, in a tailored gray jacket and hair pinned in a black swirl at her forehead, leaned with tensile agility over the rostrum. —thehustle.co, 2 Aug. 2024

The catcher is near the whale’s rostrum–near its beak, snout, and vertebrae. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 16 Oct. 2024

Soon-to-retire Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin’s presence behind Netanyahu on the rostrum attested to how much of a partisan figure Netanyahu has become. —Joshua Keating, Vox, 24 July 2024

Some of the main differences concern the presence, in the new species, of a palatal ridge, a pair of accessory incisive foramina, and a steeper rostrum deflection; among various others. —Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 13 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Latin, beak, ship's beak, from rodere to gnaw — more at rodent

First Known Use

1542, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

rostrum

noun

ros·​trum ˈräs-trəm 

plural rostra

-trə

or rostrums

1

: a stage or platform from which to give a speech

2

: a bodily part (as a snout) that resembles a bird's beak

Etymology

from Latin Rostra "the speaker's platform in the Forum," from rostra, plural of rostrum "ship's beak"

Word Origin

Rostrum, a "raised platform for speakers," goes back to the collecting of war souvenirs by the ancient Romans. Warships in those days had pointed beams, called "beaks," sticking out from the bows. They were used to ram and sink enemy ships. To celebrate a great naval victory, the Romans gathered the beaks of the losers' ships. They hung them in back of the speaker's platform in the Forum in Rome. The Latin word for the ship's beak was rostrum. The plural, rostra, soon came to be used for the speaker's platform. In time rostra came to be used for any speaker's platform, not just one decorated with the beaks of ships. In the 18th century English began using the Latin singular form rostrum to mean "a speaker's platform."

Medical Definition

rostrum

noun

ros·​trum

ˈräs-trəm also ˈrȯs-

plural rostrums or rostra -trə 

: a bodily part or process suggesting a bird's bill: as

a

: the reflected anterior portion of the corpus callosum below the genu

b

: the interior median spine of the body of the basisphenoid bone articulating with the vomer