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Definition of Distaff
1. Adjective. Characteristic of or peculiar to a woman. "Female suffrage"
2. Noun. The sphere of work by women.
3. Noun. The staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning.
Definition of Distaff
1. n. The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand.
Definition of Distaff
1. Adjective. of, relating to, or characteristic of women ¹
2. Adjective. referring to the maternal side of a family ¹
3. Noun. a device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) are 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 (see Etymology), but modern distaffs are often made of cords weighted with beads, and attached to the wrist. ¹
4. Noun. the part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun ¹
5. Noun. anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only ¹
6. Noun. women considered as a group ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Distaff
1. a type of staff [n -TAFFS or -TAVES]
Medical Definition of Distaff
1. Origin: 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) 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Distaff
Literary usage of Distaff
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Greek Poets in English Verse by William Hyde Appleton (1893)
"THE distaff.1 distaff, thou greatest gift on man bestowed By fair Minerva as the
chiefest good, Whom wise and thrifty women still retain, And raise their ..."
2. Greek Poets in English Verse: By Various Translators edited by William Hyde Appleton (1893)
"THE distaff.1 distaff, thou greatest gift on man bestowed By fair Minerva as the
chiefest good, Whom wise and thrifty women still retain, And raise their ..."
3. The Knickerbocker: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine by Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew (1852)
"PURE distaff, formed for spinning, holy gift Of blue-eyed sage MINERVA, thou dost
well Befit those matrons whose unwearied worth Makes houses prosper. ..."
4. The Idylls of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus: And The Warsongs of Tyrtæus by Theocritus, Tyrtaeus (1853)
"This sweet ditty was written to commend an ivory distaff, which the poet, ...
Under the semblance of teaching the distaff what sort of a mistress it is ..."
5. The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances by Clinton G. Gilroy (1845)
"... Manufacture of Ornamental Textures—Testimony of Homer—Great antiquity of the
distaff and Spindle—The prophet Ezekiel's account of the Broidered Stuffs, ..."
6. The Idylls of Theocritus by Theocritus (1901)
"XXVIII THE distaff distaff dear to the spinning women, given Unto such as are
wise of heart by Pallas, Boldly come with me unto Neleus' lordly Township, ..."
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