legere

Latin legere had two related senses: to gather (physically collecting objects) and to read (gathering meaning from marks). From legere came lector (reader), lectio (reading), lecturn (desk for reading), lectura (lecture), legendum (what must be read — legend), electus (chosen — elect), and intellect (gathering between things — understanding). The word root covered the spectrum from physical harvesting to intellectual comprehension.

The lectern in a church was the reading desk from which the lessons — lectiones — were read during the liturgy. In medieval Catholic practice, the lector was a minor order whose specific duty was to read the Epistle aloud to the congregation. The eagle lectern — a brass eagle with outstretched wings supporting the Bible — became the iconic form: the eagle carrying the word of God, lifting it for reading.

University lectures (lecturae) were originally readings: a professor read from an authoritative text, and students took notes. The lecture hall — named for the reading — preserved the original sense even as lecture became synonymous with the professor's own speech rather than reading. The lectern in a lecture hall traces to the same root as the church reading desk.

The eagle lectern became a symbol of the Church of England's confidence in Scripture: many medieval eagle lecterns survive in English parish churches, having escaped the Reformation's destruction of images because they held the Bible rather than depicted saints. The Bible survived by standing on the eagle.