ferule
/ˈfɛruːl
/noun historical
A flat ruler with a widened end, formerly used for beating children.The cane, the birch and the ferule, a flat board also used to beat children and 'adults in a servile condition', were the teacher's badges. 438...
- It was considered an excellent plan to beat all pupils with the ferule, in order to make knowledge enter the heads of the bad.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting the giant fennel): from Latin ferula (see ferula).