dais

noun

da·​is ˈdā-əs How to pronounce dais (audio)
nonstandard
ˈdī- How to pronounce dais (audio)
: 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

Examples of dais in a Sentence

the speaker took his place at the front of the dais
Recent Examples on the Web But this dynamic has turned city council meetings into routine spectacles, where public comment drags on for hours and speakers hurl invectives at the seven members sitting on the dais. Reis Thebault, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 Nancy Leonard finished her prepared comments on the passing of George McGinnis and had begun walking from the dais at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with the assistance of radio play-by-play man Mark Boyle with piano music playing. Dustin Dopirak, The Indianapolis Star, 7 Jan. 2024 Hammond served 13 years on the council, becoming only the second Black woman to sit on the dais after the historic 1975 council appointment of Oak Park community leader Callie Carney. Darrell Smith, Sacramento Bee, 10 Feb. 2024 Pinto and Mendelson drew attention to the congressional action on the dais during the debate. Michael Brice-Saddler, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2024 Carollo has already engaged in a shouting match on the dais with Gabela, who refused to back down. Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 20 Dec. 2023 Ohtani shared a dais with Major League Baseball’s other award winners, including NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. and NL Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, at the 99th New York Baseball Writers’ Dinner. Jorge Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 28 Jan. 2024 The trio had small orange candles on the dais in front of them on Tuesday. The Arizona Republic, 9 Jan. 2024 Standing up on the dais, repeating talking points and tossing out insults like confetti is no substitute. Brenda Looper, arkansasonline.com, 27 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dais.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of dais was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near dais

Cite this Entry

“Dais.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dais. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

dais

noun
da·​is ˈdā-əs How to pronounce dais (audio)
: a raised platform (as in a large room)

More from Merriam-Webster on dais

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!