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stone

/stoʊ̯n/noun, adjective, adverb, verb

stone is spelled S-T-O-N-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 63 times per million words in written English, the 1,668th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stone means “A hard earthen substance that can form rocks; especially, such substance when regarded as a building material” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stone is stones.

How many letters and syllables are in stone?

Letters5: S-T-O-N-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing63 times per million words; the 1,668th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is stone?

Stone appears 63 times per million words in written English, the 1,668th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce stone?

  • UK /stəʊ̯n/
  • US /stoʊ̯n/
  • Australia /stɐʉ̯n/

Stone has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-stone.wav, En-us-stone.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with stone?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as stone from its last stressed vowel (/oʊn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: notes, onset, seton, steno.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of stone

  • stones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • styen
  • stoning participle, present
  • stoned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does stone mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

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

  2. 2

    A piece of such material: a block of stone, rock or a pebble.

  3. 3

    A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.

  4. 4

    UKA unit of weight equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight. Abbreviated as st.

    British people measure their weight in stones and pounds. I weigh eight stone five.

  5. 5

    The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.

    Near-synonym: pip

  6. 6

    A hard, stone-like deposit.

  7. 7

    A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.

  8. 8

    A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.

adjective

  1. 1

    Constructed of stone.

    stone walls

  2. 2

    Having the appearance of stone.

    stone pot

  3. 3

    Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.

  4. 4

    Used as an intensifier.

    She is one stone fox.

  5. 5

    slangWilling to give sexual pleasure but not to receive it.

    stone butch

adverb

  1. 1

    As a stone (used with following adjective).

    My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.

  2. 2

    slangAbsolutely, completely (used with following adjectives).

    I went stone crazy after she left.

verb

  1. 1

    To pelt with stones; especially, to kill by pelting with stones.

    stoned to death

  2. 2

    To wall or wall up with stones.

  3. 3

    To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).

  4. 4

    To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.

  5. 5

    slangEspecially of cannabis or narcotics: To intoxicate. (Usually in passive)

  6. 6

    slangTo do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.

  7. 7

    To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.

    Before they did the setup on the machining center, they stoned the table to knock down any nicked burrs.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate stone?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of stone: st.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Stone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpierre, roche (substance), caillou, roc (small piece of stone), de pierre, en pierre (constructed of stone)
GermanStein, Stain, Schdää (substance), steinern (constructed of stone), Edelstein (gem stone – see also gem, precious stone), steinigen (To pelt with stones)
Portuguesepedra, rocha (substance), calhau, seixo (small piece of stone), de pedra, pétreo (constructed of stone)
Spanishpiedra (substance), loncha (small piece of stone), de piedra, pétreo (constructed of stone), hueso (centre of some fruits), cálculo (medical: hard, stone-like deposit)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does stone come from?

From Middle English ston, stone, stan, from Old English stān, from Proto-West Germanic *stain, from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”), from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after stone