Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - rostrum

 noun  (plural rostra or ~s)  Etymology: Latin, beak, ship's beak, from rodere to gnaw — more at rodent  Date: 1542  1. Latin Rostra, plural, a platform for speakers in the Roman Forum decorated with the beaks of captured ships, from plural of ~  a. an ancient Roman platform for public orators  b. a stage for public speaking  c. a raised platform on a stage  2. the curved end of a ship's prow; especially the beak of a war galley  3. a bodily part or process suggesting a bird's bill: as  a. the beak, snout, or proboscis of any of various insects or arachnids  b. the often spinelike anterior median prolongation of the carapace of a crustacean (as a crayfish or lobster)