Etymograph

English

hone

Hone comes from Middle English hon ‘whetstone’, from Old English hān ‘a projecting stone that forms part of a boundary’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i- ‘to sharpen’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱeh₃i-‘to sharpen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hainō‘whetstone’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hān‘a projecting stone that forms part of a boundary’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hon‘whetstone’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2011hone

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱeh₃i-‘to sharpen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hainō‘whetstone’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hān‘a projecting stone that forms part of a boundary’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500hon‘whetstone’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2011hone

Earliest quotation: 2011, Revenge: “Huh? Training in your room under the torchlight /…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i-

Another origin of hone

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presenthogner‘to grumble’
  2. Englishtodayhone

French hogner (‘to grumble’), which could be a cross of honnir (‘to disgrace, shame’) and grogner (‘to grunt’).

Today it means

noun A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i- / hone

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