lectern
[lek-tern]
- a reading desk in a church on which the Bible rests and from which the lessons are read during the church service.
- a stand with a slanted top, used to hold a book, speech, manuscript, etc., at the proper height for a reader or speaker.
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Origin of lectern
1275–1325; earlier lectron(e), late Middle English lectryn < Medieval Latin lēctrīnum, derivative of lēctrum lectern, equivalent to Latin leg(ere) to read + -trum instrumental suffix; replacing Middle English letroun, lettorne < Middle French letrun < Medieval Latin lēctrum, as above
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lectern
Contemporary Examples
In another photo pair, a crowd listens to a speaker at a lectern in a light-filled conference hall.
“Guantanamo is not necessary to keep us safe,” he said, tapping at the lectern.
Congress Cooperates, Obama Pushes Hard, and Closing Gitmo Has a ChanceDaniel Klaidman
December 12, 2013
When the court came to order, he approached a lectern and stood at attention.
Vicki Jackson, a Harvard Law professor, rises to the lectern and begins her remarks.
He was not projecting outward to a crowd like a professor at a lectern.
Historical Examples
Mrs. Fleming, Meg, Monty, and Neale were standing by the lectern when she appeared.
A harum-scarum schoolgirlAngela Brazil
The bier stood near the lectern, between four rows of candles.
Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert
They were all that he could do in the way of pulpit, desk, and lectern.
StingareeE. W. (Ernest William) Hornung
He came over to the table and stood in front of it as though it were a lectern.
The Trembling of a LeafWilliam Somerset Maugham
The Lectern takes the familiar form of an eagle, and is of bronze.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of St. PaulArthur Dimock
lectern
- a reading desk or support in a church
- any similar desk or support
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French lettrun, from Late Latin lectrum, ultimately from legere to read
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lectern
n.
early 14c., lettorne, lettron, from Old French letron, from Medieval Latin lectrinum, from Late Latin lectrum "lectern," from root of Latin legere "to read" (see lecture (n.)). Half-re-Latinized in English in 15c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper