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stone

(stōn)

a. Concreted earthy or mineral matter; rock.

b. Such concreted matter of a particular type. Often used in combination: sandstone; soapstone.

2. A small piece of rock.

3. Rock or a piece of rock shaped or finished for a particular purpose, especially:

a. A piece of rock that is used in construction: a coping stone; a paving stone.

b. A gravestone or tombstone.

c. A grindstone, millstone, or whetstone.

d. A milestone or boundary.

4. A gem or precious stone.

5. Something, such as a hailstone, resembling a stone in shape or hardness.

6. Botany The hard covering enclosing the seed in certain fruits, such as the cherry, plum, or peach.

7. Medicine A mineral concretion in an organ, such as the kidney or gallbladder, or other body part; a calculus.

8. pl. stone Abbr. st. A unit of weight in Great Britain, 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).

9. Printing A table with a smooth surface on which page forms are composed.

adj.

1. Relating to or made of stone: a stone wall.

2. Made of stoneware or earthenware.

3. Complete; utter. Often used in combination: a stone liar; stone-deaf.

adv.

Completely; utterly: stone cold; standing stone still.

tr.v. stoned, ston·ing, stones

1. To hurl or throw stones at, especially to kill with stones.

2. To remove the stones or pits from.

3. To furnish, fit, pave, or line with stones.

4. To rub on or with a stone in order to polish or sharpen.

5. Sports To block a shot taken by (an opponent). Used of a goalie.

6. Obsolete To make hard or indifferent.

[Middle English, from Old English stān; see stāi- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Stone

(stōn), Edward Durell 1902-1978.

American architect who was an exponent of the International Style. Among his notable designs is the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC (1971).

Stone, Lucy1818–1893.

American feminist and social reformer who organized the first national women's rights convention, held in Worcester, Massachusetts (1850), and was a founder of the American Woman Suffrage Association (1869).

(click for a larger image)

Lucy Stone

Stone, I(sidor) F(einstein) 1907-1989.

American journalist who championed liberal causes in I.F. Stone's Weekly (1953-1971).

Stone

(stōn), Harlan Fiske 1872-1946.

American jurist who served as an associate justice (1925-1941) and as the chief justice (1941-1946) of the US Supreme Court.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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