staff of life

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staff of life

/ˈstɑːf ə(v)ˌlaɪf/ UK
/ˈstæf ə(v)ˌlaɪf/ US
/ˈstɐːf ɘ(v)ˌlɑef/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

By extension from the Biblical phrase “break the staff of bread” (Hebrew מַטֶּה לֶחֶם (maté lékhem)), staff (“long, straight rod”) in this context meaning something that acts as a support: see, for example, Leviticus 26:26 (King James Version; spelling modernized): “And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied”; and Ezekiel 4:16: “[…] Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care, and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment: […]”. Compare Egyptian ḫt n ꜥnḫ (“grain; food”, literally “stick or wood of life”).

noun

idiomatic, literary, often, poetic Bread or some other staple foodstuff. It was reserved for Christians to torture bread, the staff of life, bread for which children in whole districts wail, bread, the gift of pasture to the poor, bread, for want of which thousands of our fellow beings annually perish by famine; it was reserved for Christians to torture the material of b

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MLA

"staff of life." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/staff%20of%20life. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

staff of life. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/staff%20of%20life

Chicago

"staff of life." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/staff%20of%20life.

BibTeX

@misc{staff_of_life_2026,
  title = {staff of life},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/staff%20of%20life},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}