Other forms: wands
A wand is a thin stick you hold in one hand and point at things. The wizard flicks it and sparks come off the end; the fairy godmother taps a pumpkin and it turns into a coach.
Outside the fairy tales, a wand is any slim rod you hold and sweep: a mascara wand, a curling wand for hair, the wand a guard waves down your sides at airport security. To wave a magic wand means to fix something instantly, which is why people say it when they cannot: I can't wave a magic wand and make the waiting list disappear. A wand is not a walking stick and not a staff, and you do not lean on it. An orchestra's conductor holds a baton, never a wand.
1nounwandA thin rod held in the hand and pointed, especially one used to work magic.
“She raised her wand and the candles lit themselves.”
2nounslimA slim rod-shaped tool or applicator.
“He ran the security wand down my sides and waved me through.”
wand is a slender rod.
Wand came in from Old Norse vondr, a switch or a twig, and behind that Proto-Germanic *wanduz, a rod. Further back sits the Proto-Indo-European root *wendh-, to turn, twist, wind or braid. So the first wands were bendy green sticks, the kind you could twist and weave, long before anyone waved one at a pumpkin.
Old Norse
vǫndr — twig
Middle English
wand
English, today
wand
From Middle English wand, from Old Norse vǫndr (“twig”). From Middle English wand,wond, from Old Norse vǫndr (“switch, twig”), from Proto-Germanic wanduz (“rod”), from Proto-Indo-European wendʰ- (“to turn, twist, wind, braid”). Cognate with Icelandic vendi (“wand”), Danish vånd (“wand, switch”), German Wand (“wall, septum”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 (“rod”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA