lectern

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“
On either side of the lectern is a large bullet proof glass screen protecting him from any shots fired by would-be assassins who might be positioned in skyscrapers overlooking the venue.

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Definitions (6)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A reading desk with a slanted top holding the books from which scriptural passages are read during a church service.
  2. noun A stand that serves as a support for the notes or books of a speaker.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Dan Fry stood before the lectern, his face the color of a mushroom, and told his story. —  F ;SF - vol 102 issue 04 - April 2002
  • Following back his eyes caught the outlines of a kind of lectern, now pushed against a wall of the cell, with spaces below the reading flat and handles attached. —  Wonder Story Annual - 1950
  • He leaped for the lectern, snatched it open, seized the ape-man's oilball and held it aloft as though to throw it out into the corridor. —  Wonder Story Annual - 1950
  • She turned away from the lectern, aroused by her memories, but despairing because memories were all they could ever be. —  InterzoneScienceFictionandFantasyMagazine#214
  • In the Catholic church I grew up in, the lectern was evidently fitted with a Bible that broke proper nouns into syllables (Gol-go-tha, Ne-bu-chad-nez-zar ...). —  Blog updates
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This word has been looked up 113 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English lettorne, lectorn, from Old French lettrun, from Medieval Latin lēctrīnum, from Late Latin lēctrum, from Latin lēctus, past participle of legere, to read; see leg- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also lecturn, lettern, lettron, letteron; from Middle English lectorn, lectrone, lectrun, letron, leterone, letteron, from Old French lettrin, lettron, leutrin, French lutrin, from Middle Latin lectrinum, lettron, lectrum, a pulpit, a reading-desk, a support for books, from Greek λέκτρον, a couch, a support for books, akin to λέχος, a couch, Latin lectus, a couch, bed: see lectual, litter. It should be noted that lectern, a reading-desk, is not connected with lecture, a reading, lector, a reader.
 

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/ˈlɛktərn/
by American Heritage

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