distaff Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the sphere of work by women
  2. noun the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning
  3. adjective satellite characteristic of or peculiar to a woman
    female.
    • female sensitiveness
    • female suffrage

WordNet

Dis"taff noun
Etymology
OE. distaf, dysestafe, AS. distaef; cf. LG. diesse the bunch of flax on a distaff, and E. dizen. See Staff.
Wordforms
plural Distaffs rarely Distaves
Definitions
  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.
    ✍ The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont & Fletcher. Shipley.

Webster 1913