distaff

/ˈdɪstɑːf/

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.

distaff means of, relating to, or characteristic of women. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.

distaff is pronounced /ˈdɪstɑːf/.

Why “distaff” is a great word

DISTAFF — [Noun/Adjective] A staff for holding unspun fibers during spinning; figuratively, the sphere of women's work or concerns. As an adjective, it pertains to women or the maternal line. From Old English *distæf*, from *dis-* ("bunch of flax") + *stæf* ("staff"), from Proto-Germanic *stabaz* ("staff, stick"). The figurative senses derive from the tradition of spinning being women's work. Unlike the active, twisting "spindle" or the father-derived authority of "paternal," the distaff is the static, loaded source. It is the wool-wrapped rod anchored under an arm, the soft rustle of flax fibers being drawn, the worn smoothness of wood in a lap—the tangible quiet at the beginning of all making.

adj

Of, relating to, or characteristic of women.“Henry knew. If he were blackballed by this distaff Mafia, he was doomed: Endless, but always justifiable, delays would occur in the work he wanted typed.”
Of the maternal side of a family.“Lord Robert Walsingham de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral— […] They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on the distaff side.”

noun

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.“Then hadſt thou had an excellent head of haire. […] Excellent, it hangs like flax on a diſtaffe: & I hope to ſee a huſwife take thee between her legs, & ſpin it off.”
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.“But O, passenger, if thou art desirous to know the cause of these fatal discomposures, of this inextricable war, truly I must deal plainly: I cannot resolve thee herein to any full satisfaction. Grievances there were, I must confess, and some incongruities in my civil government, (wherein, some say, the crozier, some say, the distaff was too busy,) but I little thought, God knows, that those griev”