truncheon
/ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.10 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A baton, or military staff of command, now especially the stick carried by a police officer.
noun
A fragment or piece broken off from something, especially a broken-off piece of a spear or lance.
Obsolete
noun
A penis.
Example Sentences
- "with his troncheon he so rudely stroke / Cymochles twise"
- "One is a large ball of iron, fastened with three chains to a strong truncheon or staff of about two feet long; the other is of mixed metal, in the form of a channelled melon, fastened also to a staff by a triple chain; these balls weigh eight pounds."
- "Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword / The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe / Become them with one half so good a grace / As mercy does."
- "The imputed virtue of folios full of knockdown arguments is supposed to reside in them, just as some of the majesty of the British Empire dwells in the constable’s truncheon."
- "TUPOLSKI: How many times have I told you? Use a truncheon, use a whaddyacall. Your bare hands, Ariel? And on a spastic? He won't even get the benefit."
- "Therewith asunder in the midst it brast, / And in his hand nought but the troncheon left[…]."
Etymology
From Middle English tronchoun, from Old French tronchon (“thick stick”), from Late Latin *troncionem, from Latin truncus.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/
- British English: /ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Law.