From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Distaff \Dis"taff\, noun; pl. {Distaffs}, rarely {Distaves}. [OE. distaf, dysestafe, AS. distaef; cf. LG. diesse the bunch of flax on a distaff, and E. dizen. See {Staff}.]
1. The staff for holding a bunch of flax, tow, or wool, from which the thread is drawn in spinning by hand.
I will the distaff hold; come thou and spin. --Fairfax.
2. Used as a symbol of the holder of a distaff; hence, a woman; women, collectively.
His crown usurped, a distaff on the throne. --Dryden.
Some say the crozier, some say the distaff was too busy. --Howell.
Note: The plural is regular, but Distaves occurs in Beaumont & Fletcher.
{Descent by distaff}, descent on the mother's side.
{Distaff Day}, or {Distaff's Day}, the morrow of the Epiphany, that is, January 7, because working at the distaff was then resumed, after the Christmas festival; -- called also {Rock Day}, a distaff being called a rock. --Shipley.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: characteristic of or peculiar to a woman; "female sensitiveness"; "female suffrage" [syn: {female}]
noun
1: the sphere of work by women
2: the staff on which wool or flax is wound before spinning
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Distaff (Heb. pelek, a "circle"), the instrument used for twisting threads by a whirl (Prov. 31:19).
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