Wand, n.

(wŏnd), n. [Dan. vaand, O. Sw. wand, Icel. vöndr, Goth. vandus, L. Ger. wene.] 1. A small stick; a rod. A child runs away laughing with good smart blows of a wand on his back, who would have cried for an unkind word. Locke. 2. Hence, specifically, (a.) A staff of authority. Though he had both spurs and wand, they seemed rather marks of sovereignty than instruments of punishment. Sidney. (b.) A rod used by conjurers or diviners. Picus bore a buckler in his hand; His other waved a long divining wand. Dryden. Wand of peace (Scots Law), a wand or staff carried by the messenger of a court, and which, when deforced,—that is, hindered from executing process,—he breaks, as a symbol of the deforcement, and protest for remedy of law. Burrill.