pikestaff

Imagine a time before firearms ruled the world. If you needed to defend a position, or show that you held official power, you might carry a pikestaff. It was the long wooden staff of a pike, the kind of weapon used by foot soldiers in close ranks. Similar staffs were also carried by watchmen and other officials as a clear sign of their role. In history books, you may read about pikemen standing shoulder to shoulder, making a forest of long staffs that helped stop charging cavalry. Today, many people know the word mainly from the phrase "plain as a pikestaff," which means very obvious.

The pikestaff was the long wooden staff of a pike, a weapon that dominated many European battlefields from the late Middle Ages through the 17th century. While the word "pike" usually refers to the whole weapon, "pikestaff" more exactly points to the shaft itself, often a strong piece of ash. Its great length let infantry keep enemies at a distance. In large formations called pike squares, soldiers lowered or braced these staffs so that the metal points at the ends formed a barrier against cavalry charges.

Beyond the battlefield, such staffs also appeared in civilian life as signs of authority. Night watchmen and town guards carried them not only for defense but also as an easy sign of their duty. In that setting, the word could refer more loosely to a long staff carried by an official, even when it was not a full military pike.

Today, you are most likely to meet the word in the idiom "plain as a pikestaff." This means completely obvious, clear, and impossible to miss. The saying may have been influenced by the older phrase "plain as a packstaff," but "pikestaff" became the familiar form. So even though the object itself now belongs mostly to museums and historical writing, the word still survives when English wants to say that something is staring you right in the face.