different between quarterstaff vs baton

English

Alternative forms

• quarter-staff
• quarter staff

Etymology

quarter +? staff, attested since about 1550. Probably originally referred to a staff cut from the heartwood of a certain size of tree which was cleft into four parts, per the OED.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?kw??t???stæf/

Noun

quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves)

1. A wooden staff of an approximate length between 2 and 2.5 meters, sometimes tipped with iron, used as a weapon in rural England during the Early Modern period.
   • 1600, William Kempe, Kemps nine daies vvonder:

     Name my accu?er ?aith he, or I defye thee Kemp at the quart ?taffe.

2. Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff.

   He was very adept at quarterstaff.

   • 1883, Howard Pyle, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood:

     First, several couples stood forth at quarterstaff, and so shrewd were they at the game, and so quickly did they give stroke and parry, that […]

Usage notes

An attestation from 1590 of a quarter Ashe staffe shows that the "quarter" was an apposition and could still be detached (Richard Harvey, Plaine Perceuall the peace-maker of England , cited after the OED). Joseph Swetnam (1615) uses "quarterstaff" in the same sense in which George Silver (1599) had used "short staff", viz. for the staff between about 2 and 2.5 meters in length, as opposed to the "long staff" of a length exceeding 3 meters.

Contemporary use of the word disappears during the 18th century, and beginning with 19th-century Romanticism the word is mostly limited to antiquarian or historical usage.

Synonyms

• bo (a Japanese quarterstaff)
• short staff

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• bâton

Etymology

From French bâton. Doublet of baston.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: b?t??n, IPA^(key): /?bæt?n/
• (US) enPR: b?tän?, IPA^(key): /b??t?n/

Noun

baton (plural batons)

1. A staff or truncheon, used for various purposes

3. (music) The stick of a conductor in musical performances.
4. (sports) An object transferred by runners in a relay race.
5. (US) A short stout club used primarily by policemen; a truncheon (UK).

   Synonyms: billy club, nightstick

6. (heraldry) An abatement in coats of arms to denote illegitimacy. (Also spelled batune, baston).
7. (heraldry) A riband with the ends cut off, resembling a baton, as shown on a coat of arms.
8. A short vertical lightweight post, not set into the ground, used to separate wires in a fence.

Derived terms

• batonic

Translations

Verb

baton (third-person singular simple present batons, present participle batoning, simple past and past participle batoned)

1. To strike with a baton.

Translations

References

• The Manual of Heraldry, Fifth Edition, by Anonymous, London, 1862, online at [1]
• The Observer's Book of Heraldry, by Charles Mackinnon of Dunakin, page 58.

Further reading

• baton on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Baton in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• Botan, tabon

Crimean Tatar

Etymology

From French bâton.

Noun

baton

1. bread stick
2. chocolate stick

Declension

References

• Mirjejev, V. A.; Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajins?ko-kryms?kotatars?kyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]?^[2], Simferopol: Dolya, ?ISBN

Esperanto

Noun

baton

1. accusative singular of bato

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French bâton.

Noun

baton

1. stick

Hiligaynon

Verb

báton

1. accept, get, receive

Japanese

Romanization

baton

1. R?maji transcription of ???

Louisiana Creole French

Alternative forms

• matan
• batan

Etymology

From French bâton (“stick”).

Noun

baton

1. stick
2. stalk
3. rod, pole
4. cane, walking stick

References

• Albert Valdman; Thomas A. Klinger; Margaret M. Marshall; Kevin J. Rottet, Dictionary of Louisiana Creole, ?ISBN, page 64

Mauritian Creole

Etymology

From French bâton.

Noun

baton

1. stick

References

• Baker, Philip & Hookoomsing, Vinesh Y. 1987. Dictionnaire de créole mauricien. Morisyen – English – Français

Polish

Etymology

From French bâton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ba.t?n/

Noun

baton m inan (diminutive batonik)

1. candy bar

Declension

Further reading

• baton in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French bâton.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba?ton/

Noun

baton n (plural batoane)

1. bar, stick

Declension

Further reading

• baton in DEX online - Dic?ionare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)

Seychellois Creole

Etymology

From French bâton.

Noun

baton

1. stick

References

• Danielle D’Offay et Guy Lionnet, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français

Tetum

Noun

batón

1. lipstick