distaff
Syllables: di·staff/ˈdɪstɑːf/US/ˈdɪstæf/
distaff noun: a device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) is attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.
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Noun
distaff (plural distaffs or distaves)
- A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) is attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.
- Then hadſt thou had an excellent head of haire. […] Excellent, it hangs like flax on a diſtaffe: & I hope to ſee a huſwife take thee between her legs, & ſpin it off.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
- I muſt change armes at home, and giue the diſtaffe
Into my Husbands hands, […]c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […]...
- The part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun.
- Anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only.
- A race for female horses only.
- A woman, or women considered as a group.
- But O, passenger, if thou art desirous to know the cause of these fatal discomposures, of this inextricable war, truly I must deal plainly: I cannot resolve thee herein to any full satisfaction. Grievances there were, I must confess, and some incongruities in my civil government, (wherein, some...1643, James Howell, “England’s Tears for the Present Wars, which, for the Nature of the Quarrel, the Quality of Strength, the Diversity of Battles, Skirmishes, Encounters, and Sieges, Happened in so...
- [C]an I ſooth Tyranny?
Seem pleas'd to ſee my Royal Maſter murther'd,
His crown uſurp'd, a Diſtaff in the Throne [Anne, Queen of Great Britain],
A Council made up of ſuch as dare not ſpeak,
And could not if they durſt; […]1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, The Double Discovery. Acted at the Duke’s Theatre, London: Printed for Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, at Grays-inn-gate, in Grays-inn-lane, and at the...
Adjective
distaff (not comparable)
- Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.
- Henry knew. If he were blackballed by this distaff Mafia, he was doomed: Endless, but always justifiable, delays would occur in the work he wanted typed.1968 July, Stan Dryer, “The Fully Automated Love Life of Henry Keanridge”, in Playboy Magazine, page 152
- Women predominate not only, I think, because of matriarchal considerations, or claims to divine paternity, but also because Boiotian tradition leans in every way toward the distaff side.1973, Richmond Lattimore, Hesiod, page 9
- Of the maternal side of a family.
- Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral— […] They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side.1892 April, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. IX.—The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume III...
distaff meaning in Tamil, Punjabi, Arabic and Persian
distaff in Tamil
- இராட்டின கதிர்முனை, நூல் நூற்கும் தடி, பெட்டை, பெட்டைத்தனமான
distaff in Punjabi
- device to which fibres are attached for temporary storage
- ਤੱਕਲ਼ੀ takkaḷī
distaff in Arabic
- device to which fibres are attached for temporary storage
- عَرْنَاس ʕarnās, رُكَّة rukka
distaff in Persian
- device to which fibres are attached for temporary storage
- دشکی deški
- part of a spinning wheel
- دشکی deški
Synonyms of distaff
Antonyms
Forms of distaff
| plural | distaffs |
|---|---|
| plural | distaves |
| alternative form (obsolete) | distaffe |
Origin of distaff
From Middle English distaf (“distaff”), from Old English distæf (“distaff”), from *dis- (“bunch of flax”) (cognate with Middle Low German dise (“bunch of flax on a distaff”)) + stæf (“staff”) (from Proto-Germanic *stabaz (“staff, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ-). Senses 3 and 5 (“anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only”; “a woman, or women considered as a group”) refer to the fact that spinning was traditionally done by women.
Words formed from distaff
Phrases with distaff
Questions about distaff
- What does distaff mean?
- Distaff means a device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) is attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to spin thread. A traditional distaff is a staff with flax fibres tied loosely to it (as indicated by the etymology of the word), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist.
- What is distaff in Tamil?
- Distaff in Tamil is இராட்டின கதிர்முனை, நூல் நூற்கும் தடி, பெட்டை. See Distaff meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is distaff?
- Distaff can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce distaff?
- Distaff is pronounced /ˈdɪstɑːf/ (UK).
- What is the plural of distaff?
- The plural of distaff is distaffs.
Words near distaff in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: distaff (page history and authors); distaff (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-distaff.wav.
Cite this entry: “distaff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/distaff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.