quarterstaff

Meaning

Noun

• 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.
• Fighting or exercise with the quarterstaff.

Related

Similar words

• bo
• short staff

Origin

• 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.