Etymograph

English

stone

Stone comes from Middle English ston ‘a stone, boulder, or pebble’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- ‘to stiffen’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyh₂-‘to stiffen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*stóyh₂nosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stainazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stainreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stān
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ston‘a stone’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595stone

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*steyh₂-‘to stiffen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*stóyh₂nosreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stainazreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stainreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150stān
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ston‘a stone’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1591–1595stone

Earliest quotation: c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet: “[…]and yet I warrant it had vpon it brow,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *stainaz

stain, stony, 4 more

through Proto-West Germanic *stain

stein, 2 more

Another origin of stone

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*stainōną‘to stone’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*stainōnreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stānian‘to stone’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500stonen
  5. Englishtodaystone

Today it means

noun A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- / stone

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