A rostrum is a small raised platform you stand on to make a speech, or that a conductor stands on in front of an orchestra. It is more formal than “a box” or “the front of the room”; you expect a speech, a prize-giving, or a concert.

A rostrum is a small raised platformrostrum是一個小小的高台， you stand on to make a speech你站上去演講用的， or that a conductor stands on in front of an orchestra或是指揮站在樂團前面用的那個台子。 It is more formal than “a box” or “the front of the room”它比「a box」或「the front of the room」正式， you expect a speech, a prize-giving, or a concert你會預期接下來是演講、頒獎，或音樂會。

Though actually, the Romans used the same Latin word for a bird’s beak or a ship’s sharp prow. They decorated the speakers’ platforms in the Forum with the bronze beaks of captured ships. Those platforms were called the Rostra, and our “stand up and talk” meaning grew from that name.

Though actually不過實際上， the Romans used the same Latin word羅馬人用同一個拉丁字， for a bird's beak or a ship's sharp prow指鳥的喙，或船隻尖銳的船首。 They decorated the speakers' platforms in the Forum他們在羅馬廣場的演講台上裝飾， with the bronze beaks of captured ships用的是擄獲敵船的青銅船首。 Those platforms were called the Rostra那些平台就叫做the Rostra， and our “stand up and talk” meaning grew from that name我們現在「站起來講話」這個意思，就是從那個名字演變來的。

So a word that once meant a beak came to mean a place for a mouth.

So a word that once meant a beak所以一個原本指鳥喙的字， came to mean a place for a mouth後來變成指讓嘴巴（講話）的地方。

In biology you may also meet rostrum as a snout; that is the old “beak” sense, not this filing. Here it is the platform.

In biology在生物學裡， you may also meet rostrum as a snout你也可能遇到rostrum指的是動物的吻部， that is the old “beak” sense那是比較古老的「喙」的意思， not this filing不是這個詞條要講的意思。 Here it is the platform這個詞條講的是講台這個意思。