Lectern

A lectern (from the Latin lectus, past participle of legere, "to read") is a reading desk, with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. To facilitate eye-contact and improve posture when facing an audience, lecterns may have adjustable height and slant. People generally use lecterns while standing.

In pre-modern usage, the word lectern was used to refer specifically to the "reading desk or stand ... from which the Scripture lessons (lectiones) ... are chanted or read." One 1905 dictionary states that "the term is properly applied only to the class mentioned as independent of the pulpit." By the 1920s, however, the term was being used in a broader sense, for example, in reference to a memorial service in Carnegie Hall, it was stated that "the lectern from which the speakers talked was enveloped in black."