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

Staff have complained that the current audio system periodically malfunctions during public comment or while City Council members are speaking from the dais. —Hannah Elsmore, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 May 2026

And that is not even touching on all the unsettling racial humor that came with having Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchliffe — two comedians who have actually faced backlash for hate speech — on the dais for the roast of a Black entertainer. —Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 13 May 2026

Sitting on the dais in front of an NBA playoffs banner, the coach spoke methodically. —Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026

The seven-time Super Bowl champion, 48, made a surprise guest appearance on Netflix's The Roast of Kevin Hart on Sunday, May 10, joining a dais of A‑listers with raw and ruthless digs at the comedian, 46, who sat in the hot seat at Los Angeles' Kia Forum. —Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 11 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)