What does staff mean?
Staff most commonly means the people employed by an organization, such as teachers in a school, doctors in a hospital, or advisers in a government department. It is generally a collective noun: one speaks of "the staff" and normally uses a singular verb with it, although phrases such as "a staff of ten" are also standard. The word can also denote a long stick or pole, including a ceremonial staff, and the five horizontal lines on which music is written. As a verb, staff means to provide an organization or activity with enough people to function, as in a statement that a new clinic will be staffed by specialists. In ordinary organizational language, staff emphasizes an institution's body of personnel rather than treating employees purely as individuals. The sense involving employees has made the word common in phrases such as staff meeting, staff training, and well-staffed, while the older physical senses survive in musical and ceremonial contexts.
The people employed by an organization or providing a service; also a long stick or pole, or the five-line framework used for writing music.
"The library has a dedicated staff of librarians and research assistants."
The employee sense is normally collective and takes a singular verb. The musical sense is commonly paired with a qualifier such as treble, bass, or musical.
To provide an organization, service, or activity with the people required to operate it.
"Two additional doctors will staff the rural clinic during the winter."
This is especially common in professional and administrative contexts and in the compound adjective staffed, as in well staffed.
For an organization's employees, staff is normally collective and used without a plural ending; staffs can refer to several distinct groups of employees. For individual sticks or poles, staffs is the regular plural.
"Several separate staffs attended the regional meeting."
The word that originally meant a stick or rod eventually gave us both the five lines of a musical score and the people who keep an organization running.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does staff come from?
Staff comes from Old English stæf, meaning a stick, rod, or staff. It belongs to a Germanic word family that includes Old Norse stafi, Old Saxon staff, Old High German stab, and modern German Stab, all referring to a rod, post, or staff. Old English stæf also developed into stave, while related forms connect with words such as staple. The organizational sense for a body of employees developed later by analogy with the idea of a staff supporting or serving an institution or leader.
Related word forms
How staff is actually used
When staff refers to an organization's employees, it is normally treated as a collective noun and takes a singular verb, although it may be modified by a number or another determiner, as in "a staff of twelve." The plural staffs is used for separate groups of employees or, less commonly, for multiple sticks. In formal and professional contexts, staff can sound institutional or hierarchical, while employees is often more neutral.
Easily confused with staff
A staff may be a group of employees, a long stick, or the framework for musical notation, whereas a stave is usually a vertical bar in a group of musical notation or one of the vertical sides of a barrel or bucket.