DISTAFF

Distaff

As a noun, a distaff is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax, and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fiber. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff, and tied in place with a piece of ribbon or string. The word comes from dis in Low German, meaning a bunch of flax, connected with staff. As an adjective the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family.

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distaff

Noun

  1. 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.
  2. the part of a spinning wheel from which fibre is drawn to be spun
  3. anything traditionally done by or considered of importance to women only
  4. a woman, or women considered as a group

Adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of women
  2. referring to the maternal side of a family


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: distaff
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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