stone.
A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material.
Meaning & usage
A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material.
A piece of such material: a block of stone, rock or a pebble.
A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
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.
British people measure their weight in stones and pounds. I weigh eight stone five.
The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.
a peach stone
A hard, stone-like deposit.
A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.
A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice.
A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone.
A mirror, or its glass.
A testicle.
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.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *stóyh₂nos 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.
Constructed of stone.
stone walls
Having the appearance of stone.
stone pot
Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
Used as an intensifier.
She is one stone fox.
Willing to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.
stone butch
stone femme
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *stóyh₂nos 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.
As a stone (used with following adjective).
My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.
Absolutely, completely (used with following adjectives).
I went stone crazy after she left.
I said the medication made my vision temporarily blurry, it did not make me stone blind.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nos Proto-Indo-European *stóyh₂nos 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.
To pelt with stones; especially, to kill by pelting with stones.
stoned to death
She got stoned to death after they found her.
To wall or wall up with stones.
To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
Especially of cannabis or narcotics: To intoxicate. (Usually in passive)
To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.
Before they did the setup on the machining center, they stoned the table to knock down any nicked burrs.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English stonen, stanen, from Old English *stānian (“to stone”), from Proto-West Germanic *stainōn, from Proto-Germanic *stainōną (“to stone”). Cognate with Scots stane (“to stone”), German Low German stenen (“to stone”), Danish stene (“to stone”), Swedish stena (“to stone”), Faroese steina (“to stone”). Compare also Saterland Frisian stenigje (“to stone”), West Frisian stiennigje (“to stone”), Dutch stenigen (“to stone”), German steinigen (“to stone”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.