rostrum
/ˈɹɑstɹəm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.56 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A platform for a film or television camera.
noun
The projecting prow of a rowed warship, such as a trireme.
noun
The beak.
noun
The beak-shaped projection on the head of insects such as weevils.
Example Sentences
- "He saw a crowd listening to a man who was talking from the rostrum of a kitchen-chair."
- "I once saw two males fighting together; each had a fore-leg laid across the neck of the other, and the rostrum bent quite in an attitude of defiance, and looking most ridiculous. Another time, two were fighting for a female, who stood close by busy at her boring. They pushed at each other with their rostra, and clawed and thumped, apparently in the greatest rage, although their coats of mail must have saved both from injury."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin rōstrum (“beak, snout”), from rōd(ō) (“gnaw”) + -trum, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- + *-trom. The pulpit sense is a back-formation from the name of the Roman Rōstra, the platforms in the Forum where politicians made speeches. The Rōstra were decorated with (and named for) the beaks (prows) of ships from naval victories.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *Hreh₃d-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹɑstɹəm/
- British English: /ˈɹɒstɹəm/