Stave vs Staff: What’s the Difference?

Stave vs staff flip cards

Tap or press Enter on a card to flip it.

Stave vs staff confuses people because the words look similar, share a music meaning, and even share a plural. The easy way to untangle them is to ask what you mean. If you mean employees or a stick, use staff. If you mean a barrel strip, or the verb in “stave off,” use stave. For music, both are correct.

What does “staff” mean?

Staff most often means the people who work for an organisation, but it has several other senses. Merriam-Webster lists staff as a long stick carried for support, a rod that shows authority, the set of lines and spaces on which music is written, a graduated measuring stick, and the people who run an institution. As a verb, to staff a place means to supply it with workers.

• The hospital is hiring more nursing staff.
• The hiker leaned on a wooden staff.
• The melody sits on the top of the staff.

The word comes from the Old English stæf, and the noun has been in use since before the 12th century.

What does “stave” mean?

Stave means one of the narrow strips of wood that form the sides of a barrel, and it can also mean the music staff or a poetic stanza. Merriam-Webster defines it as a narrow strip of wood or iron placed edge to edge to form a barrel or similar structure, and it traces the noun to the Middle English plural staves of staf.

• The old barrel had two broken staves.
• The composer wrote the tune on a five-line stave.

Stave is also a verb with senses like to smash a hole in something, to drive something off or away, and, in the phrase “stave off,” to hold something unwanted back.

Stave vs staff: what is the key difference?

Staff is the broad everyday word for employees, sticks and music lines, while stave is narrower and more specific. In music they are interchangeable, since Merriam-Webster notes that the musical staff is also called a stave. Outside music, they are not: you cannot call your employees “the stave,” and a barrel strip is never a “staff.”

As a rough guide, staff is more common in American English for music, and stave is often used in British English. Both are correct.

Staves vs staffs: which plural is correct?

Staffs is the usual plural for employees and general senses, while staves is the traditional plural for sticks and musical staffs. Merriam-Webster lists both forms for staff, and staves is also the plural of stave. That is why staves can mean barrel strips, walking sticks or music lines.

• The two schools combined their staffs.
• Hikers carried staves up the trail.

When you mean several groups of workers, such as the staffs of two hospitals, use staffs. When you mean several walking sticks or music lines, use staves.

What does “stave off” mean?

To stave off something is to keep an unwanted thing away, at least for a while. The verb stave has senses of driving or thrusting something away, and “stave off” is the common phrase built from it. It is usually followed by something bad, such as hunger, illness, defeat or disaster.

• A quick snack will stave off hunger until dinner.
• The company took out a loan to stave off bankruptcy.

Note that the phrase is never “staff off.” Staff is the noun for people, and it does not work in this phrase.

Can stave also mean a stanza?

Yes, stave can also mean a stanza, which is a group of lines in a poem or song. Merriam-Webster lists this sense, so a writer might refer to the first stave of a ballad. It is a less common use today, so most readers will think first of barrels, music or the phrase stave off.

• The ballad’s closing stave repeats the opening line.

Staff has no such poetry sense, which makes stave the right choice if you ever do use the stanza meaning.

How can you remember which one to use?

Ask whether you mean people, a stick or a barrel strip. If it is people or a stick, use staff, and if it is a barrel strip or the phrase stave off, use stave. The memory tricks below make that automatic.

What are the most common mistakes?

• A snack will staff off your hunger. → A snack will stave off your hunger.
• Our stave are on holiday this week. → Our staff are on holiday this week.
• The cooper cut new staffs for the barrel. → The cooper cut new staves for the barrel.
• The firm will stave the new office with ten workers. → The firm will staff the new office with ten workers.
• The two hospitals combined their staves. → The two hospitals combined their staffs.

Memory tricks

• Staff = people. If you mean employees, staff is the word, as in staff meeting.
• Stave = barrel or off. Barrel strips and the phrase stave off both use stave.
• Music = either. The five lines of music are called a staff or a stave, so either is correct there.

Frequently asked questions

Is stave the same as staff?

In music, yes. Outside music they differ, since staff usually means employees or a stick, while stave means a barrel strip or the verb in stave off.

What is the plural of staff?

Staffs is the usual plural for groups of employees, and staves is the traditional plural for sticks and musical staffs.

What does stave off mean?

To stave off something is to hold off or keep away something unwanted, such as hunger or illness.

Is it stave or staff in music?

Both are correct. The set of five lines for writing music is called a staff or a stave.

Is it staff off or stave off?

It is stave off. Staff off is not a standard phrase.

Conclusion

Stave vs staff is easy once you know the overlap is only in music. Use staff for employees and sticks, use stave for barrel strips and the phrase stave off, and treat both as correct for the music staff. Check the plural carefully, too.

Share this with someone who mixes up stave and staff.