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)
Examples of rostrum in a Sentence
stood on a rostrum to address the huge crowd
Recent Examples on the Web
But there’s only one historical figure looking directly at the speaker’s rostrum, and that’s Moses.
—
Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025
The conversation occurred as the leaders—accompanied by North Korea's Kim Jong Un—walked to the Tiananmen rostrum during ceremonies in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II on Wednesday.
—Toby Meyjes
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
The defining image from the event featured China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un together on the rostrum overlooking the square, says NPR's Anthony Kuhn.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Sep. 2025
That hardly seemed to matter to Xi, Putin and Kim, who ascended the rostrum overlooking the parade together in their first joint public appearance.
—Jennifer Jett, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rostrum
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Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2025
The conversation occurred as the leaders—accompanied by North Korea's Kim Jong Un—walked to the Tiananmen rostrum during ceremonies in Beijing marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II on Wednesday.
—Toby Meyjes
john Feng, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Sep. 2025
The defining image from the event featured China's Xi Jinping, Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un together on the rostrum overlooking the square, says NPR's Anthony Kuhn.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Sep. 2025
That hardly seemed to matter to Xi, Putin and Kim, who ascended the rostrum overlooking the parade together in their first joint public appearance.
—Jennifer Jett, NBC news, 3 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rostrum
Cite this Entry
“Rostrum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rostrum. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids 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
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