distaffn.

Brit.

/ˈdɪstɑːf/,

/ˈdɪstaf/, U.S.

/ˈdɪˌstæf/

Forms: Old English distæf, Middle English distaf, Middle English dysestafe, Middle English–1500s dystaf(fe, 1500s–1600s distaffe, Middle English– distaff. plural distaffs (Middle English–1600s distaves).

Etymology: Old English distæf , supposed to be for dis- or dise-stæf , the second element being staff n.¹; dis or dise is apparently identical with Low German diesse (Bremen Wörterbuch) a bunch of flax on a distaff, and connected with dize v., dizen v. ‘to put tow on a distaffe’ (Ray).

a. A cleft staff about 3 feet long, on which, in the ancient mode of spinning, wool or flax was wound. It was held under the left arm, and the fibres of the material were drawn from it through the fingers of the left hand, and twisted spirally by the forefinger and thumb of the right, with the aid of the suspended spindle, round which the thread, as it was twisted or spun, was wound.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff

distaffc1000

rocka1325

spin-rock1484

rockstick1821

rockstaffa1825

c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 125/21 Colus, distæf.

c1386 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 563 And Malkyn with a dystaf in hir hand.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 33 Sardanapallus spynnynge reed selk at þe distaf.

1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. i. 2 Wymen comynly do not entremete but to spynne on the distaf.

?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 794/14 Hec colus, a dysestafe.

?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xlix^v Let thy dystafe be alway redy for a pastyme.

1624 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 2) iii. iv. i. ii. 507 Tradesmen left their shoppes, women their distaues.

1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses vii. 78 Others with their Distaves sate to Spin.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 136 One common Work they ply'd: their Distaffs full With carded Locks of blue Milesian Wool.

1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf iii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 68 Serving wenches..sate plying their distaffs.

1870 D. Rock Textile Fabrics (S. Kensington Mus.) Introd. p. xi Spinning from off the distaff..is even now a female favourite..all through Italy.

1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 311 Singly the left [hand] upbore in wool soft-hooded a distaff.

b. In proverbial and figurative phrases. †to have tow on one's distaff: to have work in hand or trouble in store (obsolete).

ΚΠ

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 586 He hadde moore tow on his dystaf Than Gerueys knew.

a1420 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1226 Towe on my dystaf have I for to spynne More..than ye wote of yit.

1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clxxiv. [clxx.] 520 In shorte space he shall haue more flax to his dystaffe than he can well spynne.

1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. v. sig. Hiv^v If they fyre me, some of them shall wyn More tow on their distaues, then they can well spyn.

1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxv. 214 The whole of my patience is now spun off the distaff.

2. The staff or ‘rock’ of a hand spinning-wheel, upon which the flax to be spun is placed.

ΚΠ

1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III. at Spinning Performed on the wheel with a distaff and spindle.

1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Distaff, the staff of a spinning-wheel, to which a bunch of flax or tow is tied and from which the thread is drawn.

a. As the type of women's work or occupation.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > women's work

distaffc1386

woman's work1890

kitchen sink1926

kinder, kirche, küche1935

c1386 G. Chaucer Monk's Prol. 19 She rampeth in my face And crieth..I wol haue thy knyf And thou shalt haue my distaf and go spynne.

1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xvi. 17 I must change armes at home, and giue the distaffe Into my husbands hands.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 34 Their owne Noblenesse, which could haue turn'd A Distaffe, to a Lance.

1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. xv. 64 The women..so stoutly assailed the Town-House, that it was necessitated..to make them retire to the distaffe.

1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 63 I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs!

a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) I. 208 His delicate hand Seemed fitter for the distaff than the spear.

b. Hence, symbolically, for the female sex, female authority or dominion; also, the female branch of a family, the ‘spindle-side’ as opposed to the ‘spear-side’; a female heir.

ΘΚΠ

society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > female heir

distaffa1513

inheritricea1513

heritressc1515

inheritrix?1530

heritrixc1575

inheritress1603

fortune1655

heiress1656

millionheiress1890

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > side > female line or side

mother-descent1642

distaff1644

spindle-side1851

spindle1877

distaff side1890

matrilineage1949

matriline1957

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xx^v He hadde .iiii. Systers... The wolde not haue so noble a lordshyp runne amonge, or to be deuydyd atwene so many dystauys.

1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall ii. f. 152^v M. Militon..whose sonne being lost in his trauaile beyond the seas, enriched 6. distaffs with his inheritance.

1644 J. Howell England's Teares (1645) 180 Some say the Crozier, some say the Distaffe was too busie.

1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. x. 51 The Kingdome is hereditary; and for want of an heir male, it falls to the Distaff.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Distaff The Crown of France never falls to the distaff.

1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. ix. i. 379 Old Anton being already fallen into the distaff, with nothing but three Granddaughters.

Compounds

C1. attributive and in other combinations, as distaff-business, distaff-right, distaff-woman.

ΚΠ

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 114 Against thy state, Yea distaffe women mannage rustie bils.

?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome iii. vii. 432 This inconuenience followeth the friendship of maried cupples, that it is mingled with so many other strange matters, children, parents of the one side & the other, and so many other distaffe busines that doe many times trouble and interrupt a liuely affection.

1895 F. Pollock & F. W. Maitland Hist. Eng. Law II. 305 For a male to get a share by ‘distaff right’ [L. iure coli] was by no means uncommon.

C2.

distaff cane n. a species of reed, the stems or canes of which are used for distaffs, arrows, fishing-rods, etc.

ΚΠ

1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Distaff Cane, Arundo Donax.

distaff's day n. (or St. Distaff's day) the day after Twelfth Day or the Feast of the Epiphany, on which day (January 7) women resumed their spinning and other ordinary employments after the holidays; also called rock-day.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > period > year > [noun] > specific days of the year

Candlemas1014

May Day1267

All Souls' Dayc1300

midsummer evena1400

firstc1400

Beltane1424

midsummer eve1426

quarter day1435

Beltane1456

mid-Sundaya1475

madding-day1568

Lord Mayor's day1591

Barnaby bright1595

Lammas-eve1597

All Saints' Night1607

Handsel Monday1635

distaff's day1648

long Barnabya1657

St. Valentine's eve1671

leet-day1690

All Fools' Day1702

Boxing Day1743

April Fool's Day1748

Royal Oak Day1759

box day1765

Oak-apple Day1802

All Souls' Eve1805

mischief night1830

Shick-shack Day1847

chalk-back day1851

call night1864

Nut-Monday1867

Arbor Day1872

April Fool's1873

Labour Day1884

Martinmas Sunday1885

call day1886

Samhain1888

Juneteenth1890

Mother's Day1890

Father's Day1908

Thinking Day1927

Punkie night1931

Tweede Nuwejaar1947

1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Bb3^v Partly worke and partly play Ye must on S. Distaffs day.

1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Bb3^v Give S. Distaffe all the right, Then bid Christmas sport good-night.]

1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 304 On St. Distaff's Day, neither work nor play.

distaff side n. the female branch of a house or family.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > side > female line or side

mother-descent1642

distaff1644

spindle-side1851

spindle1877

distaff side1890

matrilineage1949

matriline1957

1890 Temple Bar Nov. 311 ‘Is there insanity in Byng's blood?’ Not certainly on the distaff side, the side of his eminently sane and wholesome mother.

distaff thistle n. a name of Carthamus lanatus ( Cirsium lanatum), from its woolly flowering stems.

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants used in dyeing > [noun] > saffron-thistle

bastard saffron1548

carthamus1548

mock saffron1548

safflower1682

Cape saffron1711

distaff thistle1715

African saffron1866

saffron-thistle1889

1715 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1714–16 (Royal Soc.) 29 234 This differs from the Distaff-Thistle in having its upper Stalks woolly like Cobwebs.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	distaff
释义	distaffn. Brit. /ˈdɪstɑːf/, /ˈdɪstaf/, U.S. /ˈdɪˌstæf/ Forms: Old English distæf, Middle English distaf, Middle English dysestafe, Middle English–1500s dystaf(fe, 1500s–1600s distaffe, Middle English– distaff. plural distaffs (Middle English–1600s distaves). Etymology: Old English distæf , supposed to be for dis- or dise-stæf , the second element being staff n.¹; dis or dise is apparently identical with Low German diesse (Bremen Wörterbuch) a bunch of flax on a distaff, and connected with dize v., dizen v. ‘to put tow on a distaffe’ (Ray). 1. a. A cleft staff about 3 feet long, on which, in the ancient mode of spinning, wool or flax was wound. It was held under the left arm, and the fibres of the material were drawn from it through the fingers of the left hand, and twisted spirally by the forefinger and thumb of the right, with the aid of the suspended spindle, round which the thread, as it was twisted or spun, was wound. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture of thread or yarn > [noun] > spinning > distaff distaffc1000 rocka1325 spin-rock1484 rockstick1821 rockstaffa1825 c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 125/21 Colus, distæf. c1386 G. Chaucer Nun's Priest's Tale 563 And Malkyn with a dystaf in hir hand. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 33 Sardanapallus spynnynge reed selk at þe distaf. 1489 W. Caxton tr. C. de Pisan Bk. Fayttes of Armes i. i. 2 Wymen comynly do not entremete but to spynne on the distaf. ?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 794/14 Hec colus, a dysestafe. ?1523 J. Fitzherbert Bk. Husbandry f. xlix^v Let thy dystafe be alway redy for a pastyme. 1624 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy (ed. 2) iii. iv. i. ii. 507 Tradesmen left their shoppes, women their distaues. 1675 T. Hobbes tr. Homer Odysses vii. 78 Others with their Distaves sate to Spin. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 136 One common Work they ply'd: their Distaffs full With carded Locks of blue Milesian Wool. View more context for this quotation 1816 W. Scott Black Dwarf iii, in Tales of my Landlord 1st Ser. I. 68 Serving wenches..sate plying their distaffs. 1870 D. Rock Textile Fabrics (S. Kensington Mus.) Introd. p. xi Spinning from off the distaff..is even now a female favourite..all through Italy. 1871 R. Ellis tr. Catullus Poems lxiv. 311 Singly the left [hand] upbore in wool soft-hooded a distaff. b. In proverbial and figurative phrases. †to have tow on one's distaff: to have work in hand or trouble in store (obsolete). ΚΠ c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 586 He hadde moore tow on his dystaf Than Gerueys knew. a1420 T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum 1226 Towe on my dystaf have I for to spynne More..than ye wote of yit. 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. clxxiv. [clxx.] 520 In shorte space he shall haue more flax to his dystaffe than he can well spynne. 1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue ii. v. sig. Hiv^v If they fyre me, some of them shall wyn More tow on their distaues, then they can well spyn. 1853 C. Brontë Villette II. xxv. 214 The whole of my patience is now spun off the distaff. 2. The staff or ‘rock’ of a hand spinning-wheel, upon which the flax to be spun is placed. ΚΠ 1766 T. H. Croker et al. Compl. Dict. Arts & Sci. III. at Spinning Performed on the wheel with a distaff and spindle. 1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Distaff, the staff of a spinning-wheel, to which a bunch of flax or tow is tied and from which the thread is drawn. 3. a. As the type of women's work or occupation. ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > work > [noun] > women's work distaffc1386 woman's work1890 kitchen sink1926 kinder, kirche, küche1935 c1386 G. Chaucer Monk's Prol. 19 She rampeth in my face And crieth..I wol haue thy knyf And thou shalt haue my distaf and go spynne. 1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xvi. 17 I must change armes at home, and giue the distaffe Into my husbands hands. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. v. 34 Their owne Noblenesse, which could haue turn'd A Distaffe, to a Lance. View more context for this quotation 1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. xv. 64 The women..so stoutly assailed the Town-House, that it was necessitated..to make them retire to the distaffe. 1821 Ld. Byron Sardanapalus ii. i. 63 I blush that we should owe our lives to such A king of distaffs! a1839 W. M. Praed Poems (1864) I. 208 His delicate hand Seemed fitter for the distaff than the spear. b. Hence, symbolically, for the female sex, female authority or dominion; also, the female branch of a family, the ‘spindle-side’ as opposed to the ‘spear-side’; a female heir. ΘΚΠ society > law > legal right > right of possession or ownership > right to succeed to title, position, or estate > succession > [noun] > descent by inheritance > heir > female heir distaffa1513 inheritricea1513 heritressc1515 inheritrix?1530 heritrixc1575 inheritress1603 fortune1655 heiress1656 millionheiress1890 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > side > female line or side mother-descent1642 distaff1644 spindle-side1851 spindle1877 distaff side1890 matrilineage1949 matriline1957 a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. xx^v He hadde .iiii. Systers... The wolde not haue so noble a lordshyp runne amonge, or to be deuydyd atwene so many dystauys. 1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall ii. f. 152^v M. Militon..whose sonne being lost in his trauaile beyond the seas, enriched 6. distaffs with his inheritance. 1644 J. Howell England's Teares (1645) 180 Some say the Crozier, some say the Distaffe was too busie. 1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. x. 51 The Kingdome is hereditary; and for want of an heir male, it falls to the Distaff. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Distaff The Crown of France never falls to the distaff. 1858 T. Carlyle Hist. Friedrich II of Prussia II. ix. i. 379 Old Anton being already fallen into the distaff, with nothing but three Granddaughters. Compounds C1. attributive and in other combinations, as distaff-business, distaff-right, distaff-woman. ΚΠ 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. ii. 114 Against thy state, Yea distaffe women mannage rustie bils. View more context for this quotation ?1608 S. Lennard tr. P. Charron Of Wisdome iii. vii. 432 This inconuenience followeth the friendship of maried cupples, that it is mingled with so many other strange matters, children, parents of the one side & the other, and so many other distaffe busines that doe many times trouble and interrupt a liuely affection. 1895 F. Pollock & F. W. Maitland Hist. Eng. Law II. 305 For a male to get a share by ‘distaff right’ [L. iure coli] was by no means uncommon. C2. distaff cane n. a species of reed, the stems or canes of which are used for distaffs, arrows, fishing-rods, etc. ΚΠ 1884 W. Miller Dict. Eng. Names Plants Distaff Cane, Arundo Donax. distaff's day n. (or St. Distaff's day) the day after Twelfth Day or the Feast of the Epiphany, on which day (January 7) women resumed their spinning and other ordinary employments after the holidays; also called rock-day. ΘΚΠ the world > time > period > year > [noun] > specific days of the year Candlemas1014 May Day1267 All Souls' Dayc1300 midsummer evena1400 firstc1400 Beltane1424 midsummer eve1426 quarter day1435 Beltane1456 mid-Sundaya1475 madding-day1568 Lord Mayor's day1591 Barnaby bright1595 Lammas-eve1597 All Saints' Night1607 Handsel Monday1635 distaff's day1648 long Barnabya1657 St. Valentine's eve1671 leet-day1690 All Fools' Day1702 Boxing Day1743 April Fool's Day1748 Royal Oak Day1759 box day1765 Oak-apple Day1802 All Souls' Eve1805 mischief night1830 Shick-shack Day1847 chalk-back day1851 call night1864 Nut-Monday1867 Arbor Day1872 April Fool's1873 Labour Day1884 Martinmas Sunday1885 call day1886 Samhain1888 Juneteenth1890 Mother's Day1890 Father's Day1908 Thinking Day1927 Punkie night1931 Tweede Nuwejaar1947 1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Bb3^v Partly worke and partly play Ye must on S. Distaffs day. 1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Bb3^v Give S. Distaffe all the right, Then bid Christmas sport good-night.] 1869 W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Phr. 304 On St. Distaff's Day, neither work nor play. distaff side n. the female branch of a house or family. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > lineage or descent > [noun] > a line of descent > side > female line or side mother-descent1642 distaff1644 spindle-side1851 spindle1877 distaff side1890 matrilineage1949 matriline1957 1890 Temple Bar Nov. 311 ‘Is there insanity in Byng's blood?’ Not certainly on the distaff side, the side of his eminently sane and wholesome mother. distaff thistle n. a name of Carthamus lanatus ( Cirsium lanatum), from its woolly flowering stems. ΘΚΠ the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants used in dyeing > [noun] > saffron-thistle bastard saffron1548 carthamus1548 mock saffron1548 safflower1682 Cape saffron1711 distaff thistle1715 African saffron1866 saffron-thistle1889 1715 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1714–16 (Royal Soc.) 29 234 This differs from the Distaff-Thistle in having its upper Stalks woolly like Cobwebs. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.c1000
随便看	pounsoned pounsoning pouparts ligament poupe poupiets poupou poupée pour pour cats and dogs pour coal into pour coal to pour cold water upon pour down one's neck pour down one's throat pour encourager les autres pour etc down one's throat pour it on pour le sport pour money down one's throat pour new wine into old bottles pour oil on the fire pour oil on the on troubled waters pour oil on the waters pour on the coal pour on the coals