ROSTRUM

'Rostrum' can mean one of several different things:

★ Rostrum (anatomy), an anatomical structure resembling a bird's beak, such as the snout of crocodiles and dolphins or the part of the carapace of a crustacean. Since the rostrum is typically located about the thorax of an arthropod, it is differentiated from the ''cauda'' or tail.

★ A ram bow on a ship.

★ The platform a speaker stands on while giving a speech. Such platforms in the Roman Forum were made in the shape of a ship bow. The most famous one is the Rostra in the Roman Forum.

★ A rostrum camera, a camera placed over a motorised moving platform (the rostrum), used to animate a still picture or object for television or film.

★ A 'Rostrum club', a group of people who meet to improve their skills in public speaking and meeting procedure. Each club is part of a larger non-profit organisation that promotes and facilitates the improvement of public speaking skills. See Australian Rostrum (or Australian Rostrum Home Page)

★ ''The Rostrum'', is the official monthly magazine of the National Forensic League.

★ Rostrum of corpus callosum, a part of the human brain
The term ''rostrum'' means "beak" in Latin.