noun

• A raised platform in a room for a high table, a seat of honour, a throne, or other dignified occupancy, such as ancestral statues; a similar platform supporting a lectern, pulpit, etc., which may be used to speak from.
• (historical, northern Britain) A bench, a settle, a pew.
• (obsolete) An elevated table in a hall at which important people were seated; a high table.
• The canopy over an altar, etc.