Revised as of
3 Dec 2022
In this word confusion lectern vs podium vs pulpit are all pieces of furniture on which one stands.
At its most basic, a lectern is something one stands behind, usually to read something or speak about something while a pulpit is the same thing but exclusive to religion. A podium is something one stands on, a raised platform, like a conductor or for a performance. It can also be architectural.
American usage frequently uses either lectern or podium to mean lectern. Whichever you choose, be consistent. Although, if the story is not based in America, use podium when you mean some kind of platform.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Lectern | Podium | Pulpit |
|---|---|---|
At the Lectern, Redzikowo, Poland, 13 May 2016, by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee is in the public domain courtesy of the Department of Defense. |
1932 Olympic Pentathlon Podium is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Decorative Pulpit is under the CC0 license, via MaxPixel, <https://www.maxpixel.net/Decorative-Podium-Pulpit-Worship-Christian-Church-3423749>. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun
Plural: lecterns |
Combining Form; Noun; Verb, intransitive Plural for the noun: podiums, podia Third person present verb: podiums |
Noun
Plural: pulpits |
| Stands behind
Noun: A tall stand with a sloping top to hold a book, notes, speech, manuscript, etc., from which someone, typically a preacher or lecturer, can read at the proper height while standing up
Any similar desk or support |
Stands on
Combining Form: -podium A footlike part of an organism, used in the formation of compound words Noun: [North American] A lectern
[Architecture] A low wall forming a base for a construction, as a colonnade or dome [Architecture] A stereobate for a classical temple, especially one with perpendicular sides [Architecture] The masonry supporting a classical temple [Architecture] A raised platform surrounding the arena of an ancient Roman amphitheater having on it the seats of privileged spectators A counter or booth, as one at an airport for handling tickets or dispensing information [Anatomy, Zoology] A foot or foot-like object
[Botany] A footstalk or stipe Verb, intransitive: |
The religious version of standing behind
[Religious] A raised platform or lectern in a church or chapel from which the preacher delivers a sermon
[Religious; especially in Protestantism and Judaism] The position of pastor or rabbi [Nautical; small craft] A raised platform in the bow of a fishing boat or whaler
A control booth in a factory, usually elevated and glass-enclosed, from which an operator can observe and direct the manufacturing process |
| Examples: | ||
| They used an A/V cart as a base to create a 45″ high lectern.
The sound reflected from the lectern arrives toward the rear of the mic, where sound is rejected. A tabletop lectern can be easily moved from room to room. They will appear on stage behind a lectern and be able to see and interact with the audience as if they are actually there. It won’t automatically dim the lights for you, but you can control that from the lectern, too. Standard on this lectern is a table top cable trap with two power receptacles, and an articulating keyboard platform with an 8″ range of vertical adjustment. |
Combining Form: Parapodia in polychaetes are either uniramous or biramous. Monopodium refers to a single continuous growth axis which extends at its apex and produces successive lateral shoots. “The pseudopodium is a temporary protrusion or retractile process of the cytoplasm of a cell (such as an amoeba or a white blood cell) that functions especially as an organ of locomotion or in taking up food or other particulate matter.” Noun: “But King just stepped up to the podium and delivered one of the finest speeches of his life” (Jones). It was more than I could imagine to be up on the podium and singing the national anthem. Some tall buildings sit on a podium or a base of two or three storeys containing shops or offices if they are in a central business/retail area. The keep, begun about 1074-6, incorporates much Roman masonry and was raised on the concrete podium of the Roman temple. Get your tickets stamped at the podium. Thule manufactures a Rapid Podium Foot Pack designed to be attached to the roof of your car. The podium is the cylindrical outer part of the tube foot. A podium may support a cluster of flowers or a single one. The podium of some echinoderms may also be called tube-feet, which are used to guide their food to their mouths. Verb, intransitive: He’s podiumed in five of his past six races. Four years ago at the Turin Games, skiers and snowboarders could be heard talking casually about their hopes to podium. I realized it was not worth it to go out and run the 1600 if there was a chance I wouldn’t podium. She podiumed at the recently stacked Des Moines Triathlon World Cup. This is the team in which every rider has podiumed in an NRC event. |
Many ministers delivered political guidance from their pulpits.
In attendance were representatives of medicine, the pulpit, and the bar. The movies could rival the pulpit as an agency molding the ideas of the mass public. He heard of a pulpit in Chicago that was about to be vacated. Another concern voiced by some is that the length of the boat does not include the bow pulpit and owners have found their Silvertons don’t fit into their slips. With its integrated swim platform and bow pulpit, the deck of the 300 Fiesta Vee has the appearance and feel of a larger boat. Not only are stanchions and pulpits expensive to repair or replace, but they often tear out at the bases, which will cost you even more money. I hung over the side of the pulpit and saw that the bobstay chain was shackled to the end cap on the bowsprit, so I hunted up a wrench and another shackle. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Noun: lecture, lecturer, lectureship Verb: lecture |
||
| History of the Word: | ||
| Middle English from the Old French letrun, which is from the medieval Latin lectrum, which is from legere meaning to read. | Mid-18th century via the Latin from the Greek podion, diminutive of pous, pod- meaning foot. | Middle English from the Latin pulpitum meaning scaffold, platform. In the medieval Latin of the Middle Ages, it became pulpit. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Lectern vs Podium vs Pulpit
AppleDictionary.com
Dictionary.com: lectern, podium, pulpit
Jones, Malcolm. “Martin Luther King’s Nobel Speech is an Often Ignored Masterpiece“. Daily Beast. 16 October 2014. Web. n.d.
Merriam-Webster: pseudopodium
Oxford Dictionaries: podium
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Women’s Summit by Hagerty Ryan, USFWS, via Pixnio, and Decorated Wooden Pulpit, <https://pxhere.com/en/photo/707500>, via PxHere, are both under the CC0 license. Archbishop Laurus Preaching, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Archbishop_Laurus_Preaching.jpg>, was uploaded by RassaphoreGeorge with UploadWizard, via Wikimedia Commons. The backgrounds were removed from the latter two and resized.
