Where does “whinstone” come from?
whinstone (English) comes from English quern, from Middle English quern, from Old English cweorn, from Proto-West Germanic *kwernu, from Proto-Germanic kwernō, from Proto-Indo-European gʷréh₂wō, from Proto-Indo-European gʷréh₂us, from Proto-Indo-European -us — Forms adjectives from Caland system roots.
whinstone (English): Any hard dark-coloured rock
Definitions
- Any hard dark-coloured rock
Ancestry of “whinstone”, step by step
whinstone traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English quern
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | quern | A mill for grinding corn, especially a hand-mill... |
| 2 | Middle English | quern | A quern or quirn; a device for grinding grains; A... |
| 3 | Old English | cweorn | quern |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | *kwernu | quern, hand-mill |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | kwernō | millstone; handmill; quern |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷréh₂wō | quern, mill-stone |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷréh₂us | heavy |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -us | Forms adjectives from Caland system roots |
via English stone
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | stone | A hard earthen substance that can form large... |
| 2 | Middle English | stone | A stone, boulder, or pebble; A solid mass... |
| 3 | Old English | stān | stone, rock |
| 4 | Old Norse | Veggr | name of a dwarf |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | wajjuz | wall |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wh̥₁yús | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | weh₁y- | to twist, wind, weave, plait; to wrap, enclose,... |