At a big formal dinner — a wedding, a company banquet, an awards night — somebody has to stand up, get the room quiet, and say who is speaking next. That person is the toastmaster. The name comes from an old dinner custom: guests raise their glasses and drink to someone's health, and each of those little speeches is called a toast. The toastmaster's original job was to call for those toasts in the right order; over time the job grew into running the whole evening — announcing the guests, introducing each speaker, keeping things moving. In Britain a professional toastmaster is a real hired role, often in a red coat, very formal. In everyday use the word is much more casual: at a friend's wedding, whoever holds the microphone is the toastmaster, even though nobody is paying them. The word feels a little old-fashioned and grand; at a modern event people are more likely to say host, MC, or emcee. One more place you will meet it: Toastmasters is the name of an international club where people practise public speaking, so a student may see the word first as a club name rather than a job.