staff

Pronunciation: [stæf]

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun personnel who assist their superior in carrying out an assigned task
  2. noun a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose
  3. noun the body of teachers and administrators at a school

Etymology

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Danish stav, 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.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
force
Narrower (hyponyms)
security staff, newsroom, service staff, sales staff, headquarters staff, office

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