Nota Bene
1. A common error among speakers is the mistake of referring to the lectern as a "podium". The podium is in fact the raised platform upon which both the speaker and the lectern are standing.
Merriam-Webster, however, bows to lecterns and podiums as being synonymous in their definition as popularly confused.
2. The term "rostrum" (a synonym for lectern) is thought to have originated from the Ancient Romans. The "beak" on the front of a Carthaginian navy vessel for ramming enemy ships was called a "rostrum" by the Romans, meaning a bird's beak. The apocryphal tale goes that after defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Mylae, the rostra were cut off several vessels, and taken back to Rome, where they were used in the Senate for the same purposes as a modern lectern.
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