stone

pronunciation

How to pronounce stone in British English: UK [stəʊn] word uk audio image

How to pronounce stone in American English: US [stoʊn] word us audio image

Noun:

a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter
material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust
building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose
a crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry
the hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed
an avoirdupois unit used to measure the weight of a human body; equal to 14 pounds
a lack of feeling or expression or movement
Verb:

kill by throwing stones at
remove the pits from
Adjective:

of any of various dull tannish-gray colors

Word Origin

stone: stone: [OE] Stone is a general Germanic word, with relatives in German stein, Dutch steen, and Swedish and Danish sten. These all go back to a prehistoric *stainaz, which was derived from a base denoting ‘stiffness’ or ‘solidity’ (source also of Greek stía ‘pebble’ and stéar ‘stiff, fat’, Sanskrit styā- ‘stiffen’, and Serbo-Croat stijena ‘rock’). The use of the English term for a measure of weight, equal to fourteen pounds, dates from the 14th century.

stone (n.): Old English stan, used of common rocks, precious gems, concretions in the body, memorial stones, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (cognates: Old Norse steinn, Danish steen, Old Saxon sten, Old Frisian sten, Dutch steen, Old High German stein, German Stein, Gothic stains), from PIE *stoi-no-, suffixed form of root *stai- "stone," also "to thicken, stiffen" (cognates: Sanskrit styayate "curdles, becomes hard;" Avestan stay- "heap;" Greek stear "fat, tallow," stia, stion "pebble;" Old Church Slavonic stena, Russian stiena "wall"). Sense of "testicle" is from late Old English. The British measure of weight (usually equal to 14 pounds) is from late 14c., originally a specific stone. Stone-fruit, one with a pit, is from 1520s. Stone's throw for "a short distance" is attested from 1580s. Stone Age is from 1864. To kill two birds with one stone is first attested 1650s. To leave no stone unturned is from 1540s.

stone (adj.): "made of stone," Old English (which also had stænan "stonen"); see stone (n.). As an intensifying adjective recorded from 1935, first recorded in black slang, probably from earlier use in phrases like stone blind (late 14c., literally "blind as a stone"), stone deaf, stone-cold (1590s), etc. Stone cold sober dates from 1937.

stone (v.): c. 1200, "to pelt with stones," from stone (n.). From c. 1600 as "to fit with stones;" 1630s as "to free from stones" (of fruit, etc.). Related: Stoned; stoning.