scepter

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A staff held by a sovereign as an emblem of authority.
2. n. Ruling power or authority; sovereignty.
3. v. To invest with royal authority.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A staff of office of the character accepted as peculiar to royalty or independent sovereignty. Those existing, or which are represented in trustworthy works of art of former times, have usually only a decorative character, but occasionally an emblem of religious or secular character occurs: thus, scepters are sometimes tipped with a cross, or with a small orb surmounted by a cross, or with a hand in the position of benediction, or with a royal emblem, such as the fleur-de-lis of France. In heraldry a scepter is generally represented with a fleur-de-lis at the upper end, the rest of it being a staff ornamented in an arbitrary manner.
2. n. Royal power or authority: as, to assume the scepter.
3. To give a scepter to; invest with royal authority, or with the emblem of authority.
4. n. A common name for the gold sovereign of James I. of England.

Wiktionary

1. n. an ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch as a symbol of power
2. v. To give a scepter to.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A staff or baton borne by a sovereign, as a ceremonial badge or emblem of authority; a royal mace.
2. n. Hence, royal or imperial power or authority; sovereignty.
3. v. To endow with the scepter, or emblem of authority; to invest with royal authority.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a ceremonial or emblematic staff
2. n. the imperial authority symbolized by a scepter