The conductor's baton replaced foot-stamping staffs after one literally killed its user — Lully stabbed his own foot beating time and died of gangrene.
A thin stick used by a conductor to direct an orchestra, or a short stick passed between runners in a relay race. Also a staff carried as a symbol of office or a police officer's truncheon.
From French bâton (stick, staff), from Old French baston, from Late Latin bastum (stick, pack-saddle support), of uncertain ultimate origin, possibly Gaulish or pre-Latin Key roots: bastum (Late Latin: "stick, staff").
The conductor's baton is a surprisingly modern invention. Before the 19th century, orchestras were directed by various means — stamping a staff on the floor, waving a rolled-up sheet of music, or playing from the keyboard. Jean-Baptiste Lully, conductor to Louis XIV, famously died from gangrene after accidentally stabbing his own