pulpit

Etymology

From Middle English pulpit, from Old French pulpite and Latin pulpitum (“platform”). Doublet of pulpitum.

noun

1. A raised platform in a church, usually enclosed, where the minister or preacher stands when giving the sermon.
   Always, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, as in private conversation, there is an absolute simplicity about the man and his words; a simplicity, an earnestness, a complete honesty. 1915, Russell H. Conwell, Robert Shackleton, chapter IV, in Acres of Diamonds, His Life and Achievements
2. Activity performed from a church pulpit, in other words, preaching, sermons, religious teaching, the preaching profession, preachers collectively or an individual preaching position; by extension: bully pulpit.
3. A raised desk, lectern, or platform for an orator or public speaker.
4. (nautical) The railing at the bow of a boat, which sometimes extends past the deck. It is sometimes referred to as bow pulpit. The railing at the stern of the boat is sometimes referred to as a stern pulpit; other texts use the term pushpit.
5. A bow platform for harpooning.
6. (UK military slang, dated) A plane's cockpit.
   In the slang of the Royal Air Force man, the cockpit of his plane is the ‘pulpit’ or ‘office’, the glass covering over it the ‘greenhouse’. March 24 1941, Life, page 85