wand

Etymology

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”).

noun

1. A hand-held narrow rod, usually used for pointing or instructing, or as a traditional emblem of authority.
2. (by extension) An instrument shaped like a wand, such as a curling wand.
3. A stick or rod used by a magician (a magic wand), conjurer or diviner (divining rod).
4. A stick, branch, or stalk, especially of willow.
   In addition to the distinction of a white frock, every woman and girl carried in her right hand a peeled willow-wand, and in her left a bunch of white flowers. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 17
5. A card of a particular suit of the minor arcana in tarot, the wands.

verb

1. (transitive) To scan (e.g. a passenger at an airport) with a metal detector.