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Usually when you look up the word "stick", you get something like
CC-CEDICT 棍棒 (gùnbàng) club / staff / stick
Google Image Search indicates a 棍棒 looks like this:
and not like this:
In English, if someone says the word "stick" (as a noun), they're usually envisaging this latter image. I'm struggling to find an appropriate translation for "stick".
Question: What is the appropriate translation for "stick" (one that falls off a tree)?
树枝，枝条，枝子
I didn't know in English a "branch" is larger than a "stick". Thanks for telling us that. In Chinese we usually don't make such distinctions. If you want to emphasize it is small, just add 小 before it, eg. 小树枝，小枝条，小枝子.
simply, it's different.
樹枝、枝條 is that thing in the tree. Like braches or sticks 棍棒、棍子 is a thing can hit people. Man-made.
'sticks' don't fall off trees (maybe in America?), branches, small branches or twigs fall of trees.
树枝， 小树枝， 枝桠
twig is definitely related to the Sanskrit root for two.
