Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
rostrum (n.)
was once the beak or prow of a Roman galley, and then became a place for a Roman senator to stand to speak. Today it means “a speaker’s platform,” as in He spoke from his usual spot on the rostrum. The plural is either rostrums or rostra. See FOREIGN PLURALS; PODIUM.
