distaff
di·staff/ˈdɪstæf/noun, adjective
distaff is spelled D-I-S-T-A-F-F: 7 letters and 2 syllables (di·staff). It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, distaff means “A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) is attached for temporary storage, before being drawn off gradually to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of distaff is distaffs or distaves.
How many letters and syllables are in distaff?
| Letters | 7: D-I-S-T-A-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: di·staff |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,980th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is distaff?
Distaff appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce distaff?
- UK /ˈdɪstɑːf/
- US /ˈdɪstæf/
Distaff has 2 syllables, split di·staff in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-distaff.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of distaff
- distaffs plural
- distaves plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distaff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A device to which a bundle of natural fibres (often wool, flax, or cotton) is 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.
- 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 race for female horses only.
- 5
A woman, or women considered as a group.
adjective
- 1
Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.
- 2
Of the maternal side of a family.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distaff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense device to which fibres are attached for temporary storage:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does distaff come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).