different between staff vs rod

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav.

Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced from German Stab.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: stäf, IPA^(key): /st??f/
• Rhymes: -??f
• (North America, Northern England) IPA^(key): /?stæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Noun

staff (countable and uncountable, plural staffs or staves or staff)

1. (plural staffs or staves) A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
2. (music, plural staves) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
3. (plural staff or staffs) The employees of a business.
4. (uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.^W
5. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
   • 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI

     All his officers brake their staves; but at their return new staves were delivered unto them.

6. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
7. (archaic) The rung of a ladder.
   • 1739, John Campbell, The Travels and Adventures of Edward Bevan, Esq.

     I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves.

8. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
9. (engineering) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
10. (surgery) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
11. (military) An establishment of officers in various departments attached to an army, to a section of an army, or to the commander of an army. The general's staff consists of those officers about his person who are employed in carrying his commands into execution.

Synonyms

• (piece of wood): See Thesaurus:stick
• (music): stave
• (employees): personnel

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? French: staff
• ? Italian: staff
• ? Japanese: ???? (sutaffu)
• ? Korean: ??? (seutaepeu)
• ? Spanish: staff

Translations

See also

Verb

staff (third-person singular simple present staffs, present participle staffing, simple past and past participle staffed)

1. (transitive) To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members.

Derived terms

• staffer
• staffing

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

staff

1. Misspelling of staph.

Anagrams

• taffs

Catalan

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /?s?taf/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /es?taf/

Noun

staff m (uncountable)

1. staff (employees)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /staf/

Etymology 1

19th century. Obscure, possibly from German staffieren or Old French estofer (modern French étoffer)

Noun

staff m (plural staffs)

1. staff, mixture of plaster and fibre.

Derived terms

• staffer
• staffeur

Etymology 2

20th century. From English staff.

Noun

staff m (plural staffs)

1. staff, employees of a business.

   Synonyms: équipe, personnel

2. governing body (army, corporation, administration, etc.)
   • 1959, H. Bazin, Fin asiles, p. 81:

References

• “staff” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English staff.

Noun

staff m (invariable)

1. staff (people)

Middle English

Noun

staff

1. Alternative form of staf

Spanish

Etymology

From English staff.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /es?taf/, [es?t?af]

Noun

staff m (uncountable)

1. staff (employees)

English

Etymology

From Middle English rodde, from Old English *rodd or *rodde (attested in dative plural roddum (“rod, pole”)), of uncertain origin, but probably from Proto-Germanic *rudd- (“stick, club”), from Proto-Indo-European *rewd?- (“to clear land”). Compare Old Norse rudda (“club”). For the root, compare English rid. Presumably unrelated to Proto-Germanic *r?d? (“rod, pole”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??d/
• Rhymes: -?d

Noun

rod (plural rods)

1. A straight, round stick, shaft, bar, cane, or staff.

   The circus strong man proved his strength by bending an iron rod, and then straightening it.

2. A longitudinal pole used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
3. (fishing) A long slender usually tapering pole used for angling; fishing rod.

   When I hooked a snake and not a fish, I got so scared I dropped my rod in the water.

4. A stick, pole, or bundle of switches or twigs (such as a birch), used for personal defense or to administer corporal punishment by whipping.
5. An implement resembling and/or supplanting a rod (particularly a cane) that is used for corporal punishment, and metonymically called the rod, regardless of its actual shape and composition.

   The judge imposed on the thief a sentence of fifteen strokes with the rod.

6. A stick used to measure distance, by using its established length or task-specific temporary marks along its length, or by dint of specific graduated marks.

   I notched a rod and used it to measure the length of rope to cut.

8. (archaic) A unit of length equal to 1 pole, a perch, ¹?₄ chain, 5+¹?₂ yards, 16+¹?₂ feet, or exactly 5.0292 meters (these being all equivalent).
   • 1842, Edgar Allan Poe, ‘The Mystery of Marie Rogêt’:

     ‘And this thicket, so full of a natural art, was in the immediate vicinity, within a few rods, of the dwelling of Madame Deluc, whose boys were in the habit of closely examining the shrubberies about them in search of the bark of the sassafras.’

   • 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod

     In one of the villages I saw the next summer a cow tethered by a rope six rods long […].

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Ch.I:

     A few rods farther led him past the old black Presbyterian church, with its square tower, embowered in a stately grove; past the Catholic church, with its many crosses, and a painted wooden figure of St. James in a recess beneath the gable; and past the old Jefferson House, once the leading hotel of the town, in front of which political meetings had been held, and political speeches made, and political hard cider drunk, in the days of "Tippecanoe and Tyler too."
9. An implement held vertically and viewed through an optical surveying instrument such as a transit, used to measure distance in land surveying and construction layout; an engineer's rod, surveyor's rod, surveying rod, leveling rod, ranging rod. The modern (US) engineer's or surveyor's rod commonly is eight or ten feet long and often designed to extend higher. In former times a surveyor's rod often was a single wooden pole or composed of multiple sectioned and socketed pieces, and besides serving as a sighting target was used to measure distance on the ground horizontally, hence for convenience was of one rod or pole in length, that is, 5+¹?₂ yards.
10. (archaic) A unit of area equal to a square rod, 30+¹?₄ square yards or ¹?₁₆₀ acre.

    The house had a small yard of about six rods in size.

11. A straight bar that unites moving parts of a machine, for holding parts together as a connecting rod or for transferring power as a drive-shaft.

    The engine threw a rod, and then went to pieces before our eyes, springs and coils shooting in all directions.

12. (anatomy) A rod cell: a rod-shaped cell in the eye that is sensitive to light.

    The rods are more sensitive than the cones, but do not discern color.

13. (biology) Any of a number of long, slender microorganisms.

    He applied a gram positive stain, looking for rods indicative of Listeria.

14. (chemistry) A stirring rod: a glass rod, typically about 6 inches to 1 foot long and ¹?₈ to ¹?₄ inch in diameter that can be used to stir liquids in flasks or beakers.
15. (slang) A pistol; a gun.
16. (slang, vulgar) A penis.
17. (slang) A hot rod, an automobile or other passenger motor vehicle modified to run faster and often with exterior cosmetic alterations, especially one based originally on a pre-1940s model or (currently) denoting any older vehicle thus modified.
18. (ufology) A rod-shaped object that appears in photographs or videos traveling at high speed, not seen by the person recording the event, often associated with extraterrestrial entities.
    • 2000, Jack Barranger, Paul Tice, Mysteries Explored: The Search for Human Origins, Ufos, and Religious Beginnings, Book Three, p.37:

      These cylindrical rods fly through the air at incredible speeds and can only be picked up by high-speed cameras.

    • 2009, Barry Conrad, An Unknown Encounter: A True Account of the San Pedro Haunting, Dorrance Publishing, pp.129–130:

      During one such broadcast in 1997, the esteemed radio host bellowed, “I got a fax earlier today from MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) in Arizona and they said what you think are rods are actually insects!”

    • 2010, Deena West Budd, The Weiser Field Guide to Cryptozoology: Werewolves, Dragons, Skyfish, Lizard Men, and Other Fascinating Creatures Real and Mysterious, Weiser Books, p.15:

      He tells of a home video showing a rod flying into the open mouth of a girl singing at a wedding.

19. (mathematics) A Cuisenaire rod.
20. (rail transport) A coupling rod or connecting rod, which links the driving wheels of a steam locomotive.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:stick
• See also Thesaurus:penis
• (objects in photographs and videos): skyfish

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• crook

References

Further reading

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

Verb

rod (third-person singular simple present rods, present participle rodding, simple past and past participle rodded)

1. (construction) To reinforce concrete with metal rods.
2. (transitive) To furnish with rods, especially lightning rods.
3. (slang, vulgar, transitive) To penetrate sexually.
4. (slang) To hot rod.

Anagrams

• D. Or., DRO, Dor, Dor., ODR, Ord, RDO, d'or, dor, dro, ord

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *rrod, from Proto-Celtic *rotos, from Proto-Indo-European *Hróth?os.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ro?t/

Noun

rod f (plural rodoù)

1. wheel

Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *r?d?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?rot]

Noun

rod m

1. family, stock, lineage
2. (botany) genus
3. (grammar) gender
4. (grammar) voice

Declension

Derived terms

• mužský rod (“masculine (gender)”)
• ženský rod (“feminine (gender)”)
• st?ední rod (“neuter (gender)”)
• ?inný rod (“active voice”) (= aktivum)
• trpný rod (“passive voice”) (= pasivum)

Further reading

• rod in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• rod in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??o?ð], [??oð?]

Etymology 1

From Old Norse rót, from Proto-Germanic *wr?ts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh?ds. English root is borrowed from Old Norse.

Noun

rod c (singular definite roden, plural indefinite rødder)

1. root
2. yob
3. (mathematics) root, zero (element ${\displaystyle x}$ in the domain of a function such that ${\displaystyle f(x)=0}$)

Inflection

Synonyms

• (mathematics): nulpunkt

Related terms

• gulerod
• rodbehandling
• rodfrugt
• tandrod

Etymology 2

From the verb rode.

Noun

rod n (singular definite rodet, not used in plural form)

1. disorder, mess, muddle

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

rod

1. imperative of rode

East Franconian

Alternative forms

• ruad (Itzgründisch)

Adjective

rod

1. red

German Low German

Alternative forms

• (Low Prussian) root (rot)

Etymology

From Old Saxon r?d, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?rowd?ós < *h?rewd?-. Compare Dutch rood, German rot, West Frisian read, English red, Danish rød.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???u?t/

Adjective

rod

1. (in several dialects) red

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• root (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Middle High German r?t (“red, red-haired”), from Old High German r?t (“red, scarlet, purple-red, brown-red, yellow-red”), from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?rowd?ós, from *h?rewd?-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ro?t/

Adjective

rod (comparative roder, superlative rodest)

1. red

Declension

Derived terms

• weinrod

See also

Further reading

• Online Hunsrik Dictionary

Latvian

Verb

rod

1. 3rd person singular present indicative form of rast
2. 3rd person plural present indicative form of rast
3. (with the particle lai) 3rd person singular imperative form of rast
4. (with the particle lai) 3rd person plural imperative form of rast

Lower Sorbian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rod? (“root”), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *radas, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh?ds (“root”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r?t/

Noun

rod m

1. sex (gender (male or female))
2. lineage, family
3. (grammar) gender

Declension

Further reading

• rod in Ernst Muka/Mucke (St. Petersburg and Prague 1911–28): S?ownik dolnoserbskeje r?cy a jeje nar?cow / Wörterbuch der nieder-wendischen Sprache und ihrer Dialekte. Reprinted 2008, Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag
• rod in Manfred Starosta (1999): Dolnoserbsko-nimski s?ownik / Niedersorbisch-deutsches Wörterbuch. Bautzen: Domowina-Verlag.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *r?d?. Cognate with Old Frisian r?d, Old Saxon r?da, Dutch roede (“rod”), Old High German ruota (German Rute), Old Norse róða (“rod, cross”) (Danish rode (“gauge, rod”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ro?d/

Noun

r?d f

1. cross (method of execution)
2. a measure of land length, equal to a perch
3. a measure of land area, equal to a quarter of an acre

Usage notes

• An archaic locative singular form, ????, appears on the Ruthwell Cross inscription.

Declension

Related terms

• r?dfæstnian

Descendants

• Middle English: rod, roode, rood
  • Scots: rude, ruid
  • English: rood, rod (length)

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz, whence also Old English r?ad, Old Frisian r?d, Old High German r?t, Old Norse rauðr, Gothic ???????????????????? (rauþs). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h?rowd?ós < *h?rewd?-.

Adjective

r?d (comparative r?doro, superlative r?dost)

1. red

Declension

Descendants

• Middle Low German: r?t
  • German Low German:

    Hamburgisch: rod

    Westphalian

    Sauerländisch: räod, raud, reyet, rout, r?et

    Westmünsterländisch: root

  • Plautdietsch: root

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r?t/

Noun

rod m inan

1. rhodium (chemical element, Rh, atomic number 45)

Declension

Further reading

• rod in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology 1

From a Slavic language, from Proto-Slavic *rod?.

Noun

rod n (plural roade)

1. fruit
2. (figuratively) fruit (advantageous result)

Declension

Synonyms

• fruct n
• poam? f

Etymology 2

Verb

rod

1. first-person singular present indicative of roade
2. first-person singular present subjunctive of roade
3. third-person plural present indicative of roade

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *rod?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rô?d/

Noun

r?d m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. gender
2. (botany) genus
3. relative, relation
4. fruit, crop, extraction (rarely used in these senses)
5. family, stock, lineage, kin, race

Declension

Derived terms

References

• “rod” in Hrvatski jezi?ni portal

Veps

Etymology

Related to ruoto.

Noun

rod

1. bone (of fish)

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ro?d/

Noun

rod

1. Soft mutation of rhod.

Mutation