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truncheon

 - 3 dictionary results

trun⋅cheon

[truhn-chuhn]
–noun
1. the club carried by a police officer; billy.
2. a staff representing an office or authority; baton.
3. the shattered shaft of a spear.
4. Obsolete. cudgel; bludgeon.
–verb (used with object)
5. Archaic. to beat with a club.

Origin:
1300–50; ME tronchon fragment < MF < VL *trunciōn-, s. of *trunciō lit., a lopping. See trunk, -ion
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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trun·cheon   (trŭn'chən)   
n.  
  1. A short stick carried by police; a billy club.

  2. A staff carried as a symbol of office or authority; a baton.

  3. Obsolete

    1. A heavy club; a cudgel.

    2. A thick cutting from a plant, as for grafting.


[Middle English tronchon, piece broken off, club, from Old North French, from Vulgar Latin *trunciō, *trunciōn-, from Latin truncus, trunk; see trunk.]
trun'cheon v.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

truncheon 
c.1300, "shaft of a spear," also "short stick, cudgel," from O.N.Fr. tronchon, O.Fr. tronchon (11c.) "a piece cut off, thick stick, stump," from V.L. *truncionem (nom. *truncio), from L. truncus (see trunk). Meaning "staff as a symbol of office" is recorded from 1575; sense of "policeman's club" is recorded from 1880.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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