['r?str?m]
¦ noun (plural rostra -tr? or rostrums)
1. a raised platform on which a person stands to make a public speech, play music, or conduct an orchestra.
a similar platform for supporting a film or television camera.
2. chiefly Zoology a beak-like projection.
Derivatives
rostrate -str?t (also rostrated) adjective (chiefly Zoology).
Origin
C16: from L., lit. 'beak'; orig. used to denote an orator's platform in the Forum in Rome, which was decorated with the beaks of captured galleys.