wand

Noun

1. A hand-held narrow rod, usually used for pointing or instructing, or as a traditional emblem of authority.
2. A hand-held narrow rod, usually used for pointing or instructing, or as a traditional emblem of authority.
3. (broadly) An instrument shaped like a wand, such as a curling wand.
4. A stick, branch, or stalk, especially of willow.
5. A card of a particular suit of the minor arcana in tarot, the wands.
6. (UK, figuratively, informal) A player's foot used especially skillfully in football.

Verb

1. (transitive) To scan (e.g. a passenger at an airport) with a handheld metal detector.
2. (transitive) To use a handheld vibrator (the sex toy) on (a person or body part).

Pronounced as (IPA)

/wɒnd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: wand

Cognate with Icelandic: vendi

Cognate with Danish: vånd

Cognate with German: Wand

Cognate with Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃

In summary

From Middle English wand, wond, from Old Norse vǫndr (“switch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic *wanduz (“rod”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn, twist, wind, braid”). Cognate with Icelandic vendi (“wand”), Danish vånd (“wand, switch”), German Wand (“wall, septum”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (wandus, “rod”).

Synonyms

baton

rod

stick

staff

scepter

sceptre

cane

pole

switch

verge

mace

truncheon

supple stick

ferule

twig

ingot

drub

crozier

shaft

sprig

crook

conductor’s baton

bow

🙇

birch

bandy

bar

walking stick

yard

mahlstick

long handle

perch

Translations

baguette

varita

Zauberstab

🪄

roede

Stab

stokje

gard

spitsroede

bacchetta

varinha

vara

staf

toverstaf

🪄

virga

różdżka

Sentences

The S . W . A . T . entry team used an optical wand to observe the proceedings behind the door .