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Quarterstaff vs Baton - What's the difference?

quarterstaff | baton | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between quarterstaff and baton

is that quarterstaff is a wooden staff of an approximate length between 2 and 2.5 meters, sometimes tipped with iron, used as a weapon in rural England during the Early Modern period while baton is a staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the baton of a field marshal.

As a verb baton is

to strike with a baton.

quarterstaff

English

(wikipedia quarterstaff)

Alternative forms

*quarter-staff *quarter staff

Noun

(en-noun)
  • A wooden staff of an approximate length between 2 and 2.5 meters, sometimes tipped with iron, used as a weapon in rural England during the Early Modern period.
  • * 1883 , Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood :
    • First, several couples stood forth at quarterstaff , and so shrewd were they at the game, and so quickly did they give stroke and parry, that
  • Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff.
    • He was very adept at quarterstaff .

    Usage notes

    An attestation from 1590 of a quarter Ashe staffe'' shows that the "quarter" was an apposition and could still be detached (Richard Harvey, ''Plaine Perceuall the peace-maker of England , cited after the OED). Joseph Swetnam (1615) uses "quarterstaff" in the same sense in which George Silver (1599) had used "short staff", viz. for the staff between about 2 and 2.5 meters in length, as opposed to the "long staff" of a length exceeding 3 meters. Contemporary use of the word disappears during the 18th century, and beginning with 19th-century Romanticism the word is mostly limited to antiquarian or historical usage.

    Synonyms

    * (l) (a Japanese quarterstaff) *short staff

    baton

    English

    (wikipedia baton)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes; as, the baton of a field marshal
  • (music) The stick of a conductor in musical performances.
  • (sports) An object transferred by runners in a relay race.
  • (lb) A short stout club used primarily by policemen; a truncheon (UK).
  • (heraldiccharge) An abatement in coats of arms to denote illegitimacy. (Also spelled batune, baston).
  • (heraldiccharge) A riband with the ends cut off, resembling a baton, as shown on a coat of arms.

    • Derived terms

    * batonic

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To strike with a baton.

    • References

    * * The Observer's Book of Heraldry , by Charles Mackinnon of Dunakin, p. 58.

    External links

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