scepter

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a ceremonial staff carried by a monarch as an emblem of royal authority

   The queen held the jeweled scepter during the coronation ceremony.

2. 2
   noun

   royal or imperial authority symbolized by such a staff

   After the emperor died, the scepter passed to his eldest daughter.

From Middle English sceptre, through Anglo-French and Latin sceptrum, from Greek skeptron 'staff or scepter', related to skeptesthai 'to prop oneself'. A staff used for support became a ruler's emblem and then a figure for sovereignty itself.

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