staff
pronunciation
How to pronounce staff in British English:
UK [stɑːf]
How to pronounce staff in American English:
US [stæf]
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- Noun:
- personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
- the body of teachers and administrators at a school
- a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose
- building material consisting of plaster and hair; used to cover external surfaces of temporary structure (as at an exposition) or for decoration
- a rod carried as a symbol
- (music) the system of five horizontal lines on which the musical notes are written
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- Verb:
- provide with staff
- serve on the staff of
Word Origin
- staff
- staff: [OE] Staff is a widespread Germanic word, with relatives in German stab, Dutch and Swedish staf, and Danish stav. These point back to a common Germanic ancestor *stabaz. Its ancestral meaning is ‘stick’, and its use as a collective term for ‘employees’, which dates in English from the 18th century, probably originated as an allusion to the carrying of a staff or ‘stick’ of office by a person in charge of subordinates – who thus became subsumed metaphorically under the notion of his ‘staff’.
- staff (n.)
- Old English stæf (plural stafas), "walking stick, strong pole used for carrying, rod used as a weapon, pastoral staff," probably originally *stæb, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz (cognates: Old Saxon staf, Old Norse stafr, Danish stav, Old Frisian stef, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch staf, Old High German stab, German Stab, Gothic *stafs "element;" Middle Dutch stapel "pillar, foundation"), from PIE root *stebh- "post, stem, to support, place firmly on, fasten" (cognates: Old Lithuanian stabas "idol," Lithuanian stebas "staff, pillar;" Old Church Slavonic stoboru "pillar;" Sanskrit stabhnati "supports;" Greek stephein "to tie around, encircle, wreathe," staphyle "grapevine, bunch of grapes;" Old English stapol "post, pillar"). As "pole from which a flag is flown," 1610s. In musical notation from 1660s. Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" is attested from 1702, apparently from German, from the notion of the "baton" that is a badge of office or authority (a sense attested in English from 1530s); hence staff officer (1702), staff-sergeant (1811). Meaning "group of employees (as at an office or hospital)" is first found 1837. Staff of life "bread" is from the Biblical phrase break the staff of bread meaning "cut off the supply of food" (Lev. xxvi:26), translating Hebrew matteh lekhem. The Old English word, in plural, was the common one used for "letter of the alphabet, character," hence "writing, literature," and many compounds having to do with writing, such as stæfcræft "grammar," stæfcræftig "lettered," stæflic "literary," stæfleahtor "grammatical error," with leahtor "vice, sin, offense."
- staff (v.)
- "to provide with a staff of assistants," 1859, from staff (n.). Related: Staffed; staffing.
Example
- 1. Don 't blame hotel staff for stealing your stuff .
- 2. But does she have the trust of the staff ?
- 3. Hiring qualified staff can be prohibitively expensive .
- 4. Medical staff have found ways of coping .
- 5. The general staff has launched its own investigation .