rostrum

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈroːs.trũː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈrɔs.trum]^[1]

Forms

rōstrum n (genitive rōstrī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin rōdō (“to gnaw”) + -trum, an instrument noun, “gnawer”.^[2][1][3] De Vaan derives rōdō from Proto-Italic *(w)rōde/o-, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d-e/o- (“to gnaw”) or a variant, and calls the root etymology uncertain.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Plautus onwards, who uses it of a human mouth.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

It meant the beak of a bird, as Cicero's birds that snatch food with their curved beaks, and the snout of an animal, as Cicero's sow tracing the letter A with its snout.^[5][2] It was used of a person's mouth, contemptuously or familiarly.^[3][6]

It meant a beak-shaped projection, especially the ram of a warship.^[2][1] In the plural rostra was the speakers' platform in the Forum at Rome, adorned with ships' beaks.^[2][7] English rostrum was borrowed in the 1540s for that platform.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a mouth.^[3][8]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of beaks and snouts.^[5][8]
• 1540s – English rostrum is borrowed.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The beak of a bird; the snout of an animal.^[2][1]
2. (colloquial) A person's mouth.^[3]
3. A beak-shaped projection; the ram of a ship.^[2][1]
4. (plural) The speakers' platform in the Forum, the rostrum.^[2][1]

Word family

• rostellum
• rostralis
• rōstrātus
• rostrō
• repandirostrus
• dēclīvirōstris

Related words

• rodo
• English rostrum

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de