Distaff word meaning and definition

[noun] the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning
[noun] the sphere of work by women
[adjective] characteristic of or peculiar to a woman; "female sensitiveness"; "female suffrage"

\Dis"taff\, n.; pl. {Distaffs}, rarely {Distaves}. [OE. distaf, dysestafe, AS. distaef; cf. LG. diesse the bunch of flax on a distaff, and E. dizen. See {Staff}.] 1. The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand. I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin. --Fairfax. 2. Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a woman; women, collectively. His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne. --Dryden. Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy. --Howell. Note: The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont & Fletcher. {Descent by distaff}, descent on the mother's side. {Distaff Day}, or {Distaff's Day}, the morrow of the Epiphany, that is, January 7, because working at the distaff was then resumed, after the Christmas festival; -- called also {Rock Day}, a distaff being called a rock. --Shipley.

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