truncheon Hear it!

truncheon definition

trun·cheon (trun′c̸hən)

noun

  1. Obsolete a short, thick club; cudgel
  2. any staff or baton used as a symbol of authority
  3. Chiefly Brit. a policeman's stick or billy
  4. Obsolete the shaft of a spear
  5. Obsolete a trunk or stem, esp. one with the branches lopped off

Etymology: ME tronchoun < OFr tronchon < VL *truncio < L truncus, a stem, trunk

transitive verb

Archaic to beat with a truncheon

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.