rostrum: [16] Latin rōstrum originally meant ‘beak’ or ‘muzzle of an animal’ – it was derived from the verb rōdere ‘gnaw’ (source of English corrode [14], erode [17], and rodent [19]). The word was also applied metaphorically to the ‘beaklike’ prows of ships. In 338 BC the platform for public speakers in the Forum in Rome was adorned with the prows of ships captured from Antium (modern Anzio), and so in due course all such platforms came to be known as rostra – whence the English word. => corrode, erode, rodent
