Distaff - What does it mean?
distaff | |
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.
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 woman, or women considered as a group
* Dryden
* Howell
of, relating to, or characteristic of women
referring to the maternal side of a family
:* {{quote-book
, year=1892
, year_published=2011
, edition=HTML
, editor=
, author=Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
, title=The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
, chapter=The Noble Bachelor
distaff
English
(wikipedia distaff)Noun
(en noun)- His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne.
- Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy.
Quotations
* (English Citations of "distaff")Adjective
(-)citation, genre= , publisher=The Gutenberg Project , isbn= , page= , passage=They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side. }}