Queen Berthe instructing girls to spin flax on spindles using distaves, Albert Anker, 1888A distaff and a spindle
A distaff (/ˈdɪstɑːf/, /ˈdɪstæf/, also called a rock[1]) is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and thus easing the spinning process. It is most commonly used to hold flax and sometimes wool, but can be used for any type of fibre. Fiber is wrapped around the distaff and tied in place with a piece of ribbon or string. The word comes from Low German dis, meaning a bunch of flax, connected with staff.
As an adjective, the term distaff is used to describe the female side of a family. The corresponding term for the male side of a family is the "spear" side.
^"Rock." The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989.
A distaff (/ˈdɪstɑːf/, /ˈdɪstæf/, also called a rock) is a tool used in spinning. It is designed to hold the unspun fibers, keeping them untangled and...
Distaff Day, also called Roc Day or Rock Day,[better source needed] is 7 January, the day after the feast of the Epiphany. It is also known as Saint Distaff's...
The Distaff Gospels (Les Evangiles des Quenouilles) is an Old French fifteenth-century collection of popular beliefs held by late medieval women, first...
The genus Carthamus, the distaff thistles, includes plants in the family Asteraceae. The group is native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. The...
glutinosa, the glutinous sage, sticky sage, Jupiter's sage, or Jupiter's distaff, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Lamiaceae. Salvia...
introduction to a 1950 Distaff Side publication, A Children's Sampler, clearly illuminates the group's mission: "The Distaff Side is a loosely-knit organization...
The Derby City Distaff Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and older over a distance of seven furlongs...
The Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged three and older over a distance of one...
The Distaff Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares that are four years old or older at a distance of seven furlongs...
Ἤριννα) was an ancient Greek poet. She is best known for her long poem The Distaff, a 300-line hexameter lament for her childhood friend Baucis, who had died...
The Coral Distaff is a Listed flat horse race in Great Britain open to fillies aged three years only. It is run at Sandown over a distance of 1 mile (1...
the event was known as the Pimlico Distaff Handicap. In 2002 the event was renamed to the Pimlico Breeders' Cup Distaff Handicap and again renamed in 2006...
kinship, through the mother's lineage, also called the spindle side or the distaff side. A patriline ("father line") is a person's father, and additional...
to which he wrote reviews and the pro-slavery novel The Sword and the Distaff (1854). During his literary career he served as editor of several journals...
2009+ Global Compositae Checklist Altervista Flora Italiana, Cardoncello cretico, Downy Safflower, Woolly Distaff Thistle, Carthamus creticus L. v t e...
Twelfth Night says of Sir Andrew's hair, that "it hangs like flax on a distaff; and I hope to see a housewife take thee between her legs and spin it off";...
The Sunshine Millions Distaff is a race for thoroughbred horses held in January at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California or at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale...
first, second, or third place and the number of starters in the Humana Distaff Handicap, an American Grade 1 race for fillies and mares age four and up...
The California Cup Distaff is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California during its Oak Tree Racing Association...
European illustration dated to around 1280. In France, the spindle and distaff were not displaced until the mid 18th century. The spinning wheel replaced...
Breeders' Cup ceased and the event was renamed to the Churchill Downs Distaff Handicap. In 2000 the event as an undercard race on the Breeders' Cup program...
"femininity", but is usually associated with a different view of gender roles. "Distaff" is an archaic adjective derived from women's conventional role as a spinner...
Carthamus lanatus is a species of thistle known as woolly distaff thistle, downy safflower or saffron thistle. It is closely related to safflower (Carthamus...
Spinner by William-Adolphe Bouguereau shows a woman hand-spinning using a drop spindle. Fibers to be spun are bound to a distaff held in her left hand....
The Distaff Side is a 1933 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten. It premiered at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh before beginning a 102-performance...
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