podium

views updated May 11 2018

podium.
1. Continuous pedestal with base, plinth, die, and cornice, such as used to support an Order of Classical columns high above ground level in a monumental building. In Classical architecture it is essentially the platform on which stood a Roman temple or a peristyle of columns supporting a dome.

2. Platform around the arena of a Roman amphitheatre over which the seats of the nobility were placed.

podium

views updated May 14 2018

po·di·um / ˈpōdēəm/ • n. (pl. -di·ums or -di·a / -dēə/ ) a small platform on which a person may stand to be seen by an audience, as when making a speech or conducting an orchestra. ∎  a lectern. ∎  a continuous projecting base or pedestal under a building. ∎  a raised platform surrounding the arena in an ancient amphitheater.

podium

views updated Jun 08 2018

podium projecting base XVIII; (zool.) fore or hind foot XIX. — L., elevated place, balcony — Gr. pódion, dim. of poús, pod- FOOT.