dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs 

nonstandard

ˈdī- 

: 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

• platform
• podium
• rostrum
• stage
• stand
• tribune

Examples of dais in a Sentence

the speaker took his place at the front of the dais

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2018, when comedian Michelle Wolf delivered scathing jokes about the Trump administration, including about then-Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who was sitting on the dais. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 29 Mar. 2025

Though school board members have not yet discussed Trump’s plans to dismantle the Department of Education on the dais, Thompson said she’s had some discussions with Superintendent Howard Hepburn and the district financial department on what BCPS’ options may be. —Clara-Sophia Daly, Miami Herald, 21 Mar. 2025

Having a homeless shelter within city limits would have to be decided by the nearby homeowners — not by a panel of seven on the dais, but by the majority of those directly or indirectly impacted. —Jonathan Horwitz, Orange County Register, 21 Mar. 2025

That clash played out in the Munich attack and hundreds of similar massacres around the world, but not on the dais of the MSC. —Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 21 Feb. 2025

Word History

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.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for dais

• ablaze
• airways
• allays
• always
• amaze
• anglaise
• appraise
• archways
• arrays
• ashtrays
• assays
• ballets

Kids Definition

dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs 

: a raised platform (as in a large room)