truncheon

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truncheon

/ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/ UK
/ˈtɹʌnʃən/ UK
/ˈtɹʌnt͡ʃən/ US

Rhymes with -ʌnt͡ʃən

Where it comes from

From Middle English tronchoun, from Old French tronchon (“thick stick”), from Late Latin *troncionem, from Latin truncus.

noun truncheons

A short staff, a club; a cudgel. with his troncheon he so rudely stroke / Cymochles twise
A baton, or military staff of command, now especially the stick carried by a police officer. Not the king's crown, nor the deputed sword / The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe / Become them with one half so good a grace / As mercy does.
Similar: nightstick, baton
obsolete A fragment or piece broken off from something, especially a broken-off piece of a spear or lance. Therewith asunder in the midst it brast, / And in his hand nought but the troncheon left[…].
obsolete The shaft of a spear.
obsolete A stout stem, as of a tree, with the branches lopped off, to produce rapid growth. Truncheons of seven or eight feet long, thrust two feet into the earth […] when once rooted, may be cut at six inches above ground
euphemistic A penis. Then, being on his knees between my legs, he drew up his shirt and bared all his hairy thighs, and stiff staring truncheon, red-topt and rooted into a thicket of curls

verb truncheons · truncheoning · truncheoned

transitive To strike with a truncheon. If captains were of my wind they would truncheon you out

Translations

Every language

noun short club

Español	porra
Português	cassetete
Français	matraque
Deutsch	Gummiknüppel, Schlagstock
Ελληνικά	γκλοπ gklop
Русский	дубинка dubinka

noun a baton, or military staff of command, now especially the stick carried by a police officer

Español	porra
Deutsch	Schlagstock
Русский	резиновая дубинка rezinovaja dubinka

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MLA

"truncheon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/truncheon. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

truncheon. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/truncheon

Chicago

"truncheon." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/truncheon.

BibTeX

@misc{truncheon_2026,
  title = {truncheon},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/truncheon},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}