Word: stone Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- Proto-Indo-European *stoyh₂nos Proto-Germanic *stainaz Proto-West Germanic *stain Old English stān Middle English ston English stone From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”). Cognates Cognate with Scots stane (“stone”), Yola sthoan (“stone”), North Frisian stean, stian, stiin, stiinj (“stone”), Saterland Frisian Steen (“stone”), West Frisian stien (“stone”), Alemannic German Steei (“rock, stone”), Bavarian Staa (“rock, stone”), Central Franconian Steen, Stään (“stone”), Dutch steen (“stone”), German Stein (“rock, stone”), German Low German Steen, Stein (“stone”), Luxembourgish Steen (“stone”), Vilamovian śtan (“stone”), Yiddish שטיין (shteyn, “stone”), Danish and Swedish sten (“stone”), Elfdalian stien (“stone”), Faroese steinur (“stone”), Gutnish stain (“rock, stone”), Icelandic steinn (“rock, stone”), Norwegian Bokmål stein, sten (“stone”), Norwegian Nynorsk steidn, stein (“stone”), Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (stains, “stone”). Compare also Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”), στέαρ (stéar, “tallow”), Lithuanian sténgti (“to be able, make an effort; to oppose”), Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), Albanian shtëng (“hardened or pressed matter”), Sanskrit स्तिया (stiyā, “still or stagnant water”). Doublet of stain, stean, and stein. Pronunciation: /stəʊ̯n/, /stoʊ̯n/, /stɐʉ̯n/, /ston/, /stoːn/ 1. A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material. Labels: uncountable Example: Toad, that vnder cold ſtone, / Dayes and Nights ha’s thirty one: / Sweltred Venom ſleeping got, / Boyle thou firſt i’th’ charmed pot. Example: The first day of the weeke, commeth Mary Magdalene earely when it was yet darke, vnto the Sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulchre. 2. A piece of such material: a block of stone, rock or a pebble. Labels: countable Example: A railway station which formerly stood a few miles from Sydney has recently been demolished, stone by stone, and has been re-erected as a church in the Australian Capital Territory of Canberra, about 200 miles away. 3. A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: […]Ineſtimable Stones, vnvalewed Iewels[…] 4. A unit of weight equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight. Abbreviated as st. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable Example: British people measure their weight in stones and pounds. I weigh eight stone five. Example: Seven pounds make a clove, 2 cloves a stone, 2 stone a tod, 6+¹⁄₂ tods a wey, 2 weys a sack, 12 sacks a last. […] It is to be observed here that a sack is 13 tods, and a tod 28 pounds, so that the sack is 364 pounds. 5. The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Near-synonym: pip Example: a peach stone 6. A hard, stone-like deposit. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The pain of passing a larger stone is often compared to child birth. 7. A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones. Labels: countable, uncountable 9. A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Amid that scene, if ſome relenting eye Glance on the ſtone where our cold reliques lie. Example: It seems to me that when I die / These words will be written on my stone[…] 11. A mirror, or its glass. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: She's dead as earth: Lend me a Looking-glaſſe; / If that her breath will miſt or ſtaine the ſtone, / Why then ſhe liues. 12. A testicle. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: […]and yet I warrant it had vpon it brow, a bumpe as big as a young Cockrels ſtone? Example: Hee that is wounded in the ſtones, or hath his priuie member cut off, ſhall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord. 13. A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: The Chief called the makeup editor to the stone, pointed to the story which had caught his eye, and suggested a fairly simple remake.