1. a staff or stick to lean upon, a walking-stick , (Homer): metaphorically of the daughters of Oedipus, σκῆπτρα φωτός his staffs or supports , (Sophocles Tragicus)

2. a staff , as the badge of command, a sceptre : in (Homer) borne by chiefs, and transmitted from father to son, whence the passage in (Iliad by Homer) 2 is called ἡ τοῦ σκήπτρου παράδοσις, (Thucydides):—;also borne by judges, by heralds, by speakers, who on rising to speak received it from the herald, (Homer)

3. the sceptre , i. e. royalty, kingly power, rule , [8th/7th c.BC, variant datesTragica Adespota (ML)