staff

Etymology 1

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf, 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.

noun

1. (plural staffs or staves) A long, straight, thick wooden rod or stick, especially one used to assist in walking.
   The case was that of a murder. It had an element of mystery about it, however, which was puzzling the authorities. A turban and loincloth soaked in blood had been found; also a staff. 1927, F. E. Penny, chapter 4, in Pulling the Strings
2. (music, plural staffs or staves) A series of horizontal lines on which musical notes are written; a stave.
3. (plural staff or staffs) The employees of a business.
   The company employed 10 new members of staff this month.
   The company has taken on 1600 more highly-paid staff.
   No department of the Southern Railway escaped some share of the work involved, and the outdoor traffic and locomotive staffs in particular were engaged literally night and day, snatching a few hours' sleep as opportunity offered, until the task was completed. 1940 July, “Notes and News: A Magnificent Transport Achievement”, in Railway Magazine, page 419
   Most staff do not have the skills to cope with such challenging patients, who too often receive "impersonal" care and suffer from boredom, the first National Audit of Dementia found. It says hospitals should introduce "dementia champions". December 16, 2011, Denis Campbell, “Hospital staff 'lack skills to cope with dementia patients'”, in Guardian
4. (uncountable) A mixture of plaster and fibre used as a temporary exterior wall covering.ᵂ
5. A pole, stick, or wand borne as an ensign of authority; a badge of office.
   a constable's staff
6. A pole upon which a flag is supported and displayed.
7. (archaic) The rung of a ladder.
   I ascend at one [ladder] of six hundred and thirty-nine staves. 1739, John Campbell, The Travels and Adventures of Edward Bevan, Esq.
8. A series of verses so disposed that, when it is concluded, the same order begins again; a stanza; a stave.
9. (engineering) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.
10. (surgery) The grooved director for the gorget, or knife, used in cutting for stone in the bladder.
11. (military) 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. (rail transport, archaic) A form of token once used, in combination with a ticket, for safe train movements between two points on a single line.
    The train-staff and ticket system was used widely at one time, until superseded by electrical token systems, the first of which, the tablet system, appeared in 1878, […]. 1946 July and August, “Wise's Train Staff”, in Railway Magazine, page 214
    The first up train was the morning semi-fast ex Buncrana, which sped through with No. 8 at its head, adroitly exchanging staffs at about 15 m.p.h. […] The next train through Tooban was our opposite number, and we duly received the vital staff. 1949 November and December, K. Longbottom, “By Goods Train to Gweedore”, in Railway Magazine, page 355

verb

1. (transitive) To supply (a business, volunteer organization, etc.) with employees or staff members.
   Interlaken East station is jointly owned with the standard gauge Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Railway from Bern and Thun and the Swiss Federal Railways metre-gauge Brünig line from Lucerne, but is managed and staffed by the Bernese Oberland group. 1960 December, Voyageur, “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 750

Etymology 2

noun

1. Misspelling of staph.