staff

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
2. (countable, uncountable) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
3. (countable, uncountable) The employees of a business.
4. (uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ
5. (countable, uncountable) A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
6. (countable, uncountable) A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
7. (archaic, countable, uncountable) The rung of a ladder.
8. (countable, uncountable) A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
9. (countable, uncountable) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
10. (countable, uncountable) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
11. (countable, uncountable) 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.
12. (archaic, countable, uncountable) A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.

Verb

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

Pronounced as (IPA)

/stɑːf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: staf

Inherited from Old English: stæf

Cognate with Dutch: staf

Cognate with German: Stab

Cognate with Swedish: stav

In summary

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, 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 by or is even from German Stab.

Synonyms

stick

personnel

rod

cane

pole

walking stick

stave

club

cudgel

baton

crew

shaft

wand

crutch

🩼

bar

man

👨

stake

mace

team

spar

headquarters

work force

truncheon

support

faculty

employees

crook

walking-stick

handle

bat

🦇

employee

post

bludgeon

officer

staff member

human resources

lathi

membership

scepter

verge

strut

flagstaff

fishing rod

spear

staff officer

ferule

sceptre

bank clerk

board

crozier

Translations

bâton

Stab

personnel

bastón

bastone

personale

Personal

personal

staf

canne

προσωπικό

Belegschaft

Stock

pessoal

vara

Sentences

It is run entirely by volunteers and has no full-time staff .

They are room staff who perform the work of admission and control , and seller-speaker.