Batons

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A short stick used in athletics to pass during relay races
2. A staff or stick used by conductors to direct orchestras or ensembles
3. A handheld device utilized in law enforcement or self-defense, often made of metal or plastic

Etymology: "Batons" is the plural of "baton," so the word itself is the plural form, and the history belongs to the singular. "Baton" entered English in the 16th century from Middle French "baston," meaning a stick or staff, which came from Vulgar Latin "bastum," a stick, and ultimately from Greek "bastazein," to carry or lift. Its earliest English senses were plain: a rod or cudgel, and in heraldry a diagonal bar across a coat of arms marking an illegitimate line, a use that is the source of the "bastard" family connection. The sense of a short club carried as a symbol of office or authority came later, and it is this kind of staff that survives in the law-enforcement truncheon. Orchestral conductors' batons, relay-race batons passed between runners, and the batons of drum majors all descend from the same stick.

Synonyms: sticks, clubs, wands