shaft

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B2 — Upper-Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer
  2. noun an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect
  3. noun a long rod or pole (especially the handle of an implement or the body of a weapon like a spear or arrow)

Etymology

From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft. In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a long weapon, such that an arrow's “shaft” was composed of its tip, stale, and fletching. Over time, the word came to be used in place of the former stale and lost its original meaning.

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