/beuh ton", ba-, bat"n/ , n.
1. Music. a wand used by a conductor.
2. a rod of lightweight metal fitted with a weighted bulb at each end and carried and twirled by a drum major or majorette.
3. Track. a hollow rod of wood, paper, or plastic that is passed during a race from one member of a relay team to the next in a prescribed area.
4. a staff, club, or truncheon, esp. one serving as a mark of office or authority.
5. Heraldry.
a. a diminutive of the bend sinister, couped at the extremities: used in England as a mark of bastardy.
b. a similar diminutive of the ordinary bend.
[ 1540-50; bâton, OF baston baston- (s. of * basto ) stick, club; cf. LL bastum staff ]
Syn. 4. mace, scepter, crosier, rod, wand; fasces; caduceus.