a small platform for the conductor of an orchestra, a public speaker, the recipient of a sports medal, etc.
Architecture.
a low wall forming a base for a construction, as a colonnade or dome.
a stereobate for a classical temple, especially one with perpendicular sides.
the masonry supporting a classical temple.
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.
Zoology, Anatomy. a foot.
Botany. a footstalk or stipe.
a small raised platform used by lecturers, orchestra conductors, etc; dais
a plinth that supports a colonnade or wall
a low wall surrounding the arena of an ancient amphitheatre
zoology
the terminal part of a vertebrate limb
any footlike organ, such as the tube foot of a starfish
What does -podium mean? The combining form -podium is used like a suffix meaning “footlike part.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in botany. The form -podium comes from Greek pódion, meaning “little foot.” The Latin cognate of pódion is pēs, “foot,” and is the source of several combining forms related to the lower extremities, including -ped, -pede, and pedi-. Discover more at our Words That Use articles for each of these three forms. What are variants of -podium?The form -podium is a variant of -pode. It also shares an origin with the combining forms pod-, podo-, -pod, -poda, and -podous. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use articles for all these forms.
1605–15; < Latin: “elevated place, balcony” < Greek pódion “little foot,” equivalent to pod- pod- + -ion diminutive suffix. See pew
From New Latin; see origin at podium
A podium is a raised platform like the kind Olympians stand on when they win a medal or like the overturned crate in the garage where you pretend to accept your Academy Award. Stepping up to a podium means taking center stage. A person might be receiving an honor or giving a speech and the added height of a podium makes that person the focus. If you wave a baton as the conductor of an orchestra or band, you'll need to stand on a podium so the musicians can see you. And, if you deliver a rousing message in a church you might use a podium, but probably shouldn't be waving a baton.
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For now though, it's back to the racing and wondering if celebrating on the podium with his 14 cats is how Albon visualises his first top three finish for Williams.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
Trump, still in black tie, appeared at the podium in the White House briefing room with Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, FBI chief Kash Patel and other top officials.
From Barron's • Apr. 26, 2026
Even more significant, though, was the realization that on the podium that day stood the last musician to have had a real working relationship with one of the 20th century’s defining composers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Rick Dantzler, chief operating officer of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation, took the podium.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
I stand on my tiptoes, and I see Sheriff Sanders standing on the stairs of the courtroom building, right behind a podium with a microphone.
From "King and the Dragonflies" by Kacen Callender
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.