'drumstick' is a compound of the English words 'drum' and 'stick'; 'drum' referred to the percussion instrument and 'stick' meant a 'piece of wood'.

'drum' (from Middle English usage for the instrument, likely imitative in origin) combined with Old English-derived 'stick' ('sticca') to form the compound 'drumstick' meaning a beater for drums; later the term was extended by resemblance to a chicken leg and to the long pods of the moringa tree.

Initially it meant 'a stick for hitting a drum' and over time the word was applied by visual resemblance to mean 'a bird's leg used as food' and also 'the long pod of the moringa tree'.