distaff

Meanings

Plural: distaffs, distaves

Noun

the sphere of work by women
the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning
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 (as indicated by the etymology of the word), 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 race for female horses only.
A woman, or women considered as a group.

Adjective Satellite

characteristic of or peculiar to a woman

Adj

Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.
Of the maternal side of a family.

Origin / Etymology

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.

Synonyms

female, maternal

Antonyms

male, paternal, spear

Scrabble Score: 14

distaff is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
distaff is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
distaff is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 14

distaff is a valid Words With Friends word