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Added 10 October 2026

distaff

/ˈdɪstɑːf/ noun

In Latin: colus Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about distaff at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

The sphere of work by women.
The staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning.

adjective

Characteristic of or peculiar to a woman.
female sensitiveness

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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