Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Sceptre
/ˈsɛptər/noun
An ornamented rod carried by a monarch as an emblem of authority.
The Greek roots
σκῆπτρον
skêptron
staff, walking stick
Literally: “something to lean on”
Follow a root:σκῆπτρον1 word
The story of the word
σκῆπτρον is built on σκήπτω, to prop or lean, so the emblem of kingship began life as a walking stick. In Homer the staff does something more specific than decorate: whoever holds it in the assembly has the floor, and a herald passes it from speaker to speaker. Achilles throws it to the ground when he is finished arguing with Agamemnon.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 13th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
sceptred
In a sentence
The sceptre stays in the Tower except on the two days a year it is carried.