baton
baton (bə-tŏnʹ, bă-, bătʹn) noun
1. Music. A slender wooden stick or rod used by a conductor to direct an orchestra or band.
2. A hollow metal rod with a heavy rubber tip or tips that is wielded and twirled by a drum major or drum majorette.
3. A short staff carried by certain public officials as a symbol of office.
4. Sports. The hollow cylinder that is carried by each member of a relay team and passed to the next runner.
5. A club or truncheon.
6. Heraldry. A shortened narrow bend, often signifying bastardy.
[French bâton, from Old French baston, stick, from Vulgar Latin *bastō, bastōn-.]