Meaning

noun a line that forms the length of an arrow pointer

noun an aggressive remark directed at a person like a missile and intended to have a telling effect

noun a long rod or pole (especially the handle of an implement or the body of a weapon like a spear or arrow)

originFrom Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German Schaft, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish skaft. In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a long weapon, such that an arrow's “shaft” was composed of its tip, stale, and fletching. Over time,…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0