# staff

> English word · Noun · IPA /stɑːf/ · frequency rank #888

## Definitions
1. A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
2. A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
3. The employees of a business.
4. A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ
5. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
6. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
7. The rung of a ladder.
8. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
9. An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
10. The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
11. An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.
12. A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.

## Etymology
From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav.
Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

## Easily confused with
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stay)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-star)
- **stan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stan)
- **stat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stat)
- **stag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stag)
- **state** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-state)
- **start** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-start)
- **stand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stand)
- **stuff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stuff)
- **stage** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stage)
- **stars** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stars)
- **stats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stats)
- **stays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stays)
- **stake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stake)
- **stamp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stamp)
- **stark** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stark)
- **stare** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stare)
- **stiff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stiff)
- **stall** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stall)
- **stain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/staff-vs-stain)

## Common misspellings (6)
`satff`, `sstaff`, `staf`, `stfaf`, `sttaff`, `tsaff`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/staff