stone
A hard solid piece of mineral matter; rock.
Etymology
From Old English stān, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz, from PIE *steh₂- "to stand, be firm" via a suffixed form *stoi-no- "something firm or solid." The semantic development was from "that which stands firm" to the hardest, most enduring material. Some scholars connect it instead to *h₂eḱ-men- "stone," but the Germanic form better fits *steh₂-.
The Journey: *steh₂- → stone
*steh₂- / *stoi-no-
*stainaz
stān
stōn, stone
stone
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *steh₂-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Dutch | steen |
| German | Stein |
| Gothic | stains |
| Old Norse | steinn |
| Old Church Slavonic | stěna (wall) |
Did You Know?
English "stone" is related to Old Church Slavonic stěna "wall" — both from the concept of "standing firm." A stone is, at root, "the thing that stands." The British unit of weight (14 pounds) preserves an ancient practice of using actual stones as counterweights.