dais
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of dais
1225–75; Middle English deis < Anglo-French ( Old French dois ) < Latin discus quoit; see discus
Explanation
A speaker stands on a dais, or a platform, when giving a presentation. If you were speaking at the Coffee Lovers of America's conference, you'd step onto the dais so the audience could see you over their enormous cups o' joe. Dais comes to us from the Old French word deis, which was originally pronounced with only one syllable — more like days than the current day-us. If you take a course in a lecture hall, your professor will need to stand on the dais so everyone can see her better.
Vocabulary lists containing dais
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The Lightning Thief
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When Mullin walked to the dais, he shook only one hand: O'Brien's.
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
Trump addressed the executives from a lectern on a makeshift dais a few feet away from them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026
More than a dozen Metro and Los Angeles Police Department officers stood guard, positioning themselves between the public and the empty dais.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025
The CFTC’s Acting Chair Caroline Pham followed Atkins to the dais, and proudly reeled off her successes at streamlining and updating her agency.
From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025
I went down the long red hall under the dusty banners and stood before the dais with its three great hearths, where three bright fires cracked and sparkled.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
