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dais

Flag: gbEnglishMerriam-Webster Dictionary

da​is
noun
da·​is
ˈdā-əs nonstandard ˈdī-

Definition

  • a raised platform (as in a hall or large room) //Mounting the dais which had been set up for his use, he swirled the sinister cloak about him and sat down in the Abbot's chair. — Brian Jacques
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
platform podium rostrum stage stand tribune
Examples
  • //the speaker took his place at the front of the dais
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology
Middle English deis, des "high table, elevated platform occupied by a court or council," borrowed from Anglo-French deis, dais (continental Old French deis "table of honor set up on a platform"), going back to Medieval Latin discus "raised table, platform," going back to Latin, "discus, kind of plate, gong," borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong" — more at discus

NOTE: See note at dish entry 1. The predominant form in Middle French is dois, which should have resulted in Modern French [dwa]; the reason for the outcome dais [dɛ], with the presumed shift [dwɛ] to [dɛ], is in this, as in a number of parallel cases, unclear. As pointed out by the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, the English word was, excepting Scots, out of use by 1600; the current word is an antiquarian revival, with the spelling presumably copying modern French.

dais
noun

Synonyms


da​is
noun
da·​is
ˈdā-əs nonstandard ˈdī-

Definition

  • a raised platform (as in a hall or large room) //Mounting the dais which had been set up for his use, he swirled the sinister cloak about him and sat down in the Abbot's chair. — Brian Jacques
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
platform podium rostrum stage stand tribune
Examples
  • //the speaker took his place at the front of the dais
First Known Use
13th century, in the meaning defined above
History and Etymology
Middle English deis, des "high table, elevated platform occupied by a court or council," borrowed from Anglo-French deis, dais (continental Old French deis "table of honor set up on a platform"), going back to Medieval Latin discus "raised table, platform," going back to Latin, "discus, kind of plate, gong," borrowed from Greek dískos "discus," in Late Greek also "dish, round mirror, the sun's disk, gong" — more at discus

NOTE: See note at dish entry 1. The predominant form in Middle French is dois, which should have resulted in Modern French [dwa]; the reason for the outcome dais [dɛ], with the presumed shift [dwɛ] to [dɛ], is in this, as in a number of parallel cases, unclear. As pointed out by the Oxford English Dictionary, first edition, the English word was, excepting Scots, out of use by 1600; the current word is an antiquarian revival, with the spelling presumably copying modern French.

dais
noun

Synonyms