LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

rōstrum

rōstrum n (genitive rōstrī)
Classical[ˈroːs.trũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈrɔs.trum]

Meaning

  1. bill or beak of a bird
    Ībis avis Nīlī flūminis, quae sēmetipsam purgat, rōstrō in ānum aquam fundēns. Haec serpentium ōva vēscitur, grātissimam ex eīs ēscam nīdīs suīs dēportāns.The ibis is a bird of the river Nile, which cleans itself by pouring water into its anus with its beak. It devours the eggs of snakes, carrying from them to its nests the most welcome food.c. 600 CE – 625 CE, Isidorus Hispalensis, Etymologiae 12.7.33
  2. snout or muzzle of an animal
    Sīve ego, quod nōlim, longīs cōnsūmptus ab annīs, sīve manū factā morte solūtus erō, sīve per inmēnsās iactābor naufragus undās, nostraque longinquus viscera piscis edet, sīve peregrīnae carpent mea membra volucrēs, sīve meō tinguent sanguine rōstra lupī, sīve aliquis dignātus erit suppōnere terrae et dare plēbēiō corpus ināne rogō, quicquid erō, Stygiīs ērumpere nītar ab ōrīs,Whether I shall be consumed by the long years, which I do not want, whether I shall be set free by a death caused by a hand, whether I shall be thrown shipwrecked about the immense waves and a fish from far away lands my guts will eat, whether wandering birds my limbs should rip, whether wolves will stain their snouts with my blood, whether someone will be dignified to lay on the ground and give to a plebeian pyre my useless body, whatever I shall be, I shall strive to break from the banks of the Styx and I'll hold my icy hands in your face as an avenger.9 CE, Ovidius, Ibis 143–152
  3. prow of a ship
  4. plural normallya stage or platform for speaking in the forum

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ōs nāvis aēneum
rostrum -ī (n) — in Aeneis, ch. 13

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativerōstrumrōstra
genitiverōstrīrōstrōrum
dativerōstrōrōstrīs
accusativerōstrumrōstra
ablativerōstrōrōstrīs
vocativerōstrumrōstra

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

navem rostro percutere
to charge, ram a boat.
in contionem (in rostra) escendere (only of Romans)
to mount the rostra.

rōstrum, i, n. rodo,
I. the bill or beak of a bird; the snout, muzzle, mouth of animals (cf. proboscis).
I. Lit.: cibum arripere aduncitate rostrorum, Cic. N. D. 2, 47, 122: aves corneo proceroque rostro, id. ib. 1, 36, 101; Liv. 41, 13; Ov. M. 2, 376; 5, 545; 6, 673 et saep. al.: arietes tortis cornibus pronis ad rostrum, Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 4; of goats, id. ib. 2, 3, 2; of swine, Cic. Div. 1, 13, 23; 2, 21, 48; Ov. M. 8, 371; 10, 713; 14, 282; of dogs, id. ib. 1, 536; 3, 249; of wolves, Plin. 28, 10, 44, § 157; of stags, id. 8, 32, 50, § 112; of a dolphin, id. 9, 8, 7, § 20; of tortoises, id. 9, 10, 12, § 37; of bees, id. 11, 10, 10, § 21 et saep.—
B. In familiar or contemptuous lang., like our muzzle, snout, of persons, Lucil. ap. Fest. s. v. squarrosi, p. 329 Müll.; Plaut. Men. 1, 1, 13; Lucil., Nov., and Varr. ap. Non. 455, 10 sq.; Petr. 75, 10; so, too, of human statues, Dig. 19, 1, 17 fin.—
II. Transf.
A. In gen., of objects having a similar shape, the curved point of a vine-dresser's billhook, Col. 4, 25, 1; of a plough, Plin. 18, 18, 48, § 171; of hammers, id. 34, 14, 41, § 144; of lamps, id. 28, 11, 46, § 163; of an island, id. 10, 33, 49, § 137.—
B. Esp. freq., the curved end of a ship's prow, a ship's beak; sing.: neque his (navibus) nostrae rostro nocere poterant, Caes. B. G. 3, 13; so id. ib. 3, 14; id. B. C. 2, 6; Liv. 28, 30; 37, 30; Verg. A. 10, 157; 301: navis, cui argenteum aut aureum rostrum est, Sen. Ep. 76, 13; Ov. M. 4, 705 al. —Plur., Auct. B. Alex. 44, 3; 46, 2.—Sometimes of a triple form: convolsum remis rostrisque tridentibus aequor, Verg. A. 5, 143; cf. Val. Fl. 1, 688: rostrum trifidum, Sil. 6, 358.—Hence,
C. Rostra, the Rostra, a stage or platform for speakers in the Forum, so called from being adorned with the beaks of ships taken from the Antians A.U.C. 416, Liv. 8, 14; Varr. L. L. 5, § 155 Müll.; Plin. 34, 5, 11, § 20; Ascon. Mil. p. 43 Orell.; cf. Becker, Antiq. I. p. 279 sq. and p. 290; and, in gen., the place from which the assembled people were addressed, the orator's pulpit, or platform: ut semper in rostris curiam, in senatu populum defenderim, Cic. Pis. 3, 7: ut in rostris prius quam in senatu litterae recitarentur, Liv. 27, 50 fin.: in rostra escendere, Cic. Off. 3, 20, 80; Liv. 30, 17: descendere ad rostra, Suet. Vit. 15: procedere in rostra, Plin. Pan. 65, 3: cum Vettius descendisset de rostris, Cic. Vatin. 11, 26; cf.: aliquem de rostris deducere, Caes. B. C. 3, 21: rem a subselliis ad rostra detulit, Cic. Clu. 40, 111: caput Sulpicii erectum et ostentatum pro rostris, Vell. 2, 19, 1; cf.: aliquem defunctum laudare e more pro rostris (v. pro, II. 2.), Suet. Caes. 6; so, pro rostris, id. ib. 17; 20; 79; 84; id. Aug. 100; id. Tib. 6; id. Calig. 10; id. Claud. 22; id. Ner. 47; Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 15, 3; Tac. A. 3, 5; 76; 4, 12; 5, 1; for which: laudavit ipse apud rostra formam ejus, id. ib. 16, 6: frigidus a rostris manat per compita rumor, Hor. S. 2, 6, 50.—Sing.: tenere rostrum, Luc. 1, 275: rostrum forumque optare, id. 7, 65.—Poet.: campumque et rostra movebat, i. e. the assembled people, Luc. 8, 685.

Origins

From rōd(ō) (“to gnaw”) + -trum, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- + *-trom. Originally a bird's beak or animal's snout, but later extended to objects with a similar shape.

Descendants
  • Catalanrostre
  • Englishrostrum
  • Frenchrostre
  • Italianrostro
  • Portugueserostofrom Old Galician-Portuguese rostro
  • Portugueserostro
  • Romanianrost
  • Spanishrostro
  • Albanianrast
  • Aromanianarostu

Quick answers

What does rōstrum mean in Latin?
rōstrum, a noun, means “bill or beak of a bird; snout or muzzle of an animal; prow of a ship”.
What is the genitive of rōstrum?
The genitive singular is rōstrī. rōstrum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce rōstrum?
In classical Latin, [ˈroːs.trũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈrɔs.trum].