n. 1. A reading desk with a slanted top used to hold a sacred text from which passages are read in a religious service. 2. A stand that serves as a support for the notes or books of a speaker. [Middle English lettorne, lectorn, from Old French lettrun, from Medieval Latin lēctrīnum, from Late Latin lēctrum, from Latin lēctus, past participle of legere, to read; see leg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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