Lectern

A lectern is a standing reading desk with a slanted top, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon. A lectern is usually attached to a stand or affixed to some other form of support. To facilitate eye contact and improve posture when facing an audience, lecterns may have adjustable height and slant. People reading from a lectern, called lectors, generally do so while standing.

The word has its origins in the medieval Latin term lectrum, related to legere which means 'to read'.^[1] 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."^[2] One 1905 dictionary states that "the term is properly applied only to the class mentioned [church book stands] as independent of the pulpit."^[3] 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."^[4] Lecterns are frequently also referred to as podiums, a word which can also refer to an elevated platform upon which a lectern is placed, derived from the Latin root pod-, meaning 'feet'.^[1]