noun
dais
DAY-is/ˈdeɪɪs/
A raised platform for people addressing or presiding over a gathering.
The speaker stands on a dais above the seated audience.
Etymology
Latin discus meant a disk-shaped object and later a table. The connection to today's raised platform runs through the Old French meanings 'high table' and 'platform.'
In context
Below were the household, above on a raised dais the family table, with places ever ready for those frequent guests who dropped in from the high road outside.
More examples
- She stepped onto the dais to address the gathering.
- A long table stood on the dais.
- The chairperson called the next guest to the dais.
Forms
dais · daises