sceptre

plural sceptres · alternative US scepter

1. An ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch as a symbol of power.

   To the fleet he came / Bearing rich ranſom glorious to redeem / His daughter, and his hands charged with the wreath / And golden ſceptre of the God shaft-arm’d.

   1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book I.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 3

   2 more examples

   “Divine receptacle of excellence, let it not be deemed impertinent, or deviating from the rules of propriety, if I propound one queſtion which now labours in my breaſt; aſſuring me firſt, you will not let the ſceptre of true judgment depart from your right hand.”

   1769, Firishta, translated by Alexander Dow, Tales translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi, volume I, Dublin: P. and W. Wilson et al., page 11

   But what had occupied him most was the robe he was to wear at his coronation, the robe of tissued gold, and the ruby-studded crown, and the sceptre with its rows and rings of pearls.

   1891, Oscar Wilde, “The Young King”, in A House of Pomegranates, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine & Co […], →OCLC, page 6

   Synonyms: golden wand, royal wand

present singular third person sceptres · participle present sceptring · participle past sceptred · past sceptred · alternative US scepter

1. To give a sceptre to.

   To Britain's queen the sceptred suppliant bends.

   1713, Thomas Tickell, On the Prospect of Peace

2. figurativelyTo invest with royal power.

1. A hamlet (special service area) in the Rural Municipality of Clinworth, Saskatchewan, Canada.