distaffe

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A form of distaff — 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.

Scrabble 15
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Meanings

noundistaffe (plural distaffes)

plural distaffes

  1. obsoleteObsolete spelling of distaff.

    I muſt change armes at home, and giue the diſtaffe Into my Husbands hands, […]

    c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]
    1 more example

    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.

    c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 256
Cite this entry
APA

distaffe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distaffe

MLA

“distaffe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distaffe. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “distaffe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distaffe.

Source: distaffe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.