pulpit

views updated May 18 2018

pul·pit / ˈpoŏlˌpit; ˈpəl-; -pət/ • n. a raised platform or lectern in a church or chapel from which the preacher delivers a sermon. ∎  (the pulpit) religious teaching as expressed in sermons; preachers collectively: the movies could rival the pulpit as an agency molding the ideas of the mass public. ∎  a raised platform in the bow of a fishing boat or whaler. ∎  a guard rail enclosing a small area at the bow of a yacht.ORIGIN: Middle English: from Latin pulpitum ‘scaffold, platform,’ in medieval Latin ‘pulpit.’

pulpit

views updated May 21 2018

pulpit. Partially enclosed elevated desk of wood, masonry, etc., in a church (usually on the north-east side of the nave) for a preacher. Often ornate, a pulpit may have a canopy over (called tester) functioning partly as a sound-reflector. The Anglican three-decker pulpit contains at the bottom level a clerk's stall, a reading-desk above, and at the top the pulpit proper, designed as a whole.

pulpit

views updated May 23 2018

pulpit a raised enclosed platform in a church or chapel from which the preacher delivers a sermon. The word comes (in Middle English) from Latin pulpitum ‘scaffold, platform’, in medieval Latin ‘pulpit’.
bully pulpit a public office or position of authority that provides its occupant with an outstanding opportunity to speak out on any issue derives from Theodore Roosevelt's comment as US President, ‘I have got such a bully pulpit!’

pulpit

views updated May 18 2018

pulpit XIV. — L. pulpitum scaffold, platform, stage, medL. pulpit; of unkn. orig.