wand

UK: /ˈwɒnd/ US: /wɑnd/ ,(wond)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wand /wɑnd/   n. 

[countable]
1. a slender rod, esp. one used by a magician.
2. a staff carried as a sign or emblem of office or authority.
3. Electronics an electronic device in the form of a hand-held rod that can read coded or printed data on a merchandise label or in a document.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wand  (wond), n. 

1. a slender stick or rod, esp. one used by a magician, conjurer, or diviner.
2. a rod or staff carried as an emblem of one's office or authority.
3. Botany a slender shoot, stem, or branch of a shrub or tree.
4. a small applicator for cosmetics, usually having a brush at the tip:
   She applied the mascara with a wand.
5. Sport [U.S. Archery.] a slat 6 ft. (183 cm) by 2 in. (5 cm) placed at a distance of 100 yd. (91 m) for men and 60 yd. (55 m) for women, and used as a target.
6. Electronics Also called wand reader. an electronic device, in the form of a hand-held rod, that can optically read coded data, as on a merchandise label or tag or the page of a book.

• Old Norse vǫndr; cognate with Gothic wandus
• Middle English 1150–1200

wand′like′, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wand / wɒnd/ noun

1. a slender supple stick or twig
2. a thin rod carried as a symbol of authority
3. a rod used by a magician, water diviner, etc
4. a conductor's baton
5. a marker used to show the distance at which the archer stands from the target
6. a handheld electronic device, such as a light pen or bar-code reader, which is pointed at or passed over an item to read the data stored there

Etymology: 12th Century: from Old Norse vōndr; related to Gothic wandus and English wend