||Fer"u*la (?), n. [L. ferula
giant fennel (its stalks were used in punishing schoolboys), rod,
whip, fr. ferire to strike; akin to OHG. berjan, Icel.
berja. Cf. Ferule.] 1. A
ferule. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.
2. The imperial scepter in the Byzantine or
Eastern Empire.