Meaning

noun a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it

noun beaklike projection of the anterior part of the head of certain insects such as e.g. weevils

originLearned borrowing from Latin rōstrum (“beak, snout”), from rōd(ō) (“gnaw”) + -trum, from Proto-Indo-European *Hreh₃d- + *-trom. The pulpit sense is a back-formation from the name of the Roman Rōstra, the platforms in the Forum where politicians made speeches. The Rōstra were decorated with (and named for) the beaks (prows) of ships from naval victories.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0