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 of dais

• podium

Examples of dais in a Sentence

the speaker took his place at the front of the dais

Recent Examples on the Web

Talk show host Montel Williams, who is Black, even walking off the dais, per The New York Times. —Raechal Shewfelt, Entertainment Weekly, 3 June 2026

Though the five-member board is non-partisan, Chaffee was the first Democrat to serve on its dais in 12 years. —Claire Wang, Oc Register, 3 June 2026

If critics truly despise the 365-foot, 210-unit Live Local project, their ire is pointed at the wrong dais. —Keith Poliakoff, Sun Sentinel, 1 June 2026

During an April municipal election, Councilmember Bridget McCandless lost the Independence mayoral race to Kevin King, while Councilmember Jared Fears was also voted off the dais. —Ilana Arougheti, Kansas City Star, 28 May 2026

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

• baize
• bays
• blase
• blaze
• braes
• braze
• chaise
• claes
• clays
• craze
• days
• daze

Kids Definition

dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs 

: a raised platform (as in a large room)