distaff: [OE] The compound noun distaff ‘rod for holding flax, wool, etc in spinning’ was a late Old English formation from *dis ‘bunch of flax’ (a word which survives in bedizen [17], a derivative of the obsolete dizen, which originally meant ‘put flax on to a rod’ and hence ‘dress up in finery’) and staff. The now fairly archaic use of phrases such as distaff side to refer to ‘women’ comes from the traditional pigeonholing of spinning as a woman’s job. => bedizen
distaff (n.)
Old English distæf "stick that holds flax for spinning," from dis- "bunch of flax" (cognates: Middle Low German dise, Low German diesse "a bunch of flax on a distaff;" see bedizen) + stæf "stick, staff" (see staff).
A synonym in English for "the female sex, female authority in the family," since at least the late 1400s, probably because in the Middle Ages spinning was typically done by women. St. Distaff's Day was Jan. 7, when "women resumed their spinning and other ordinary employments after the holidays" [OED].
双语例句
1. The worker is pushing the distaff.
工人们正在推卷线杆.
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2. The foot on the cradle, the hand on the distaff, a sign of good housewife.
脚踩摇篮手纺纱, 一定是个好当家.
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3. They may find they have more two on their distaff that they know how to spin.
