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   rostrum

   /ˈrɒstrəm/

   noun

   • 1. a raised platform on which a person stands to make a public speech, receive an award or medal, play music, or conduct an orchestra: "speaker after speaker stepped up to the rostrum"
   • ▪ a raised platform supporting a film or television camera: "a rostrum camera"
   • 2. a beaklike projection, especially a stiff snout or anterior prolongation of the head in an insect, crustacean, or cetacean: "these beetles are very easily recognized by the rostrum or beak"

   Word Origin mid 16th century: from Latin, literally ‘beak’ (from rodere ‘gnaw’). The word was originally used (at first in the plural rostra) to denote part of the Forum in Rome, which was decorated with the beaks of captured galleys, and was used as a platform for public speakers.

   Derivatives

   • 1. rostriform adjective

   Scrabble Points: 9

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