Stave
/steɪv/noun
A strong wooden stick, slat, or bar; also a line of music notation or to break apart by force.
Did you know?In English, *stave* developed two major senses: one from a word for a wooden stick or support, and another from the older plural form of *staff* used in music, where a “stave” became the set of lines holding a song together.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*stebh-
“to support, place firmly”
Old English
OE
stæf
“a staff, rod, or letter of the alphabet”
Old English
OE
staf
“a staff or pole”
Middle English
ME
stave
“a staff, rung, or one of the wooden pieces of a barrel; later also a line or set of lines in music”
Modern English
English
stave
“a wooden strip, a verse line, or a musical staff/stave; also to break a container apart or fend off”