Stein

Forms

Stein m (genitive Steins or Steines, plural Steine, diminutive Steinchen n or Steindl n or Steinderl n)^[1] Oswald von Wolkenstein and some later writers have the plural steiner.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German stein, inherited from Old High German stein, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *stain, inherited from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”).^[3][4][5][1] The same word is Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 (stains), Old Norse steinn, Old English stān, Old Frisian stēn and Old Saxon stēn, and today Dutch steen, English stone, Swedish sten and Icelandic steinn.^[3][6][1]

Outside Germanic it is compared with Old Church Slavonic стѣна (stěna, “wall, rock face”) and Russian стена́ (stená, “wall”), and Kluge sees an extension of the noun in Ancient Greek στία (stía, “pebble”).^[3][5][4] Kroonen and Wiktionary reconstruct Proto-Indo-European *stóyh₂nos, a noun formed from the root Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- (“to stiffen”), which he connects with a Sanskrit verb meaning “to coagulate”.^[5][1] Pfeifer and the Duden dictionary likewise derive it from a root meaning “to thicken, curdle”, so that the stone would be “the hard one”;^[4][7][8] Kluge presents this further connection only as a possibility.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German stein is recorded from the late 8th century, in the Abrogans and other glosses and then in Tatian, Otfrid and Notker.^[9] It meant a stone or block of stone, a rock or cliff, and also a precious stone, a gaming piece and a bladder stone.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Middle High German stein also meant a rock castle, a step, a millstone and a unit of weight.^[11][12] Many phrases come from Luther's Bible: Stein des Anstoßes “stumbling block” and the first stone thrown by one who is without sin.^[13][4] Jemandem Steine in den Weg legen “to put obstacles in someone's way” dates from the 16th century, and so does Stein und Bein schwören, in which stone and bone stand for hardness.^[4][7] Bei jemandem einen Stein im Brett haben “to be in someone's good books” comes from backgammon, where a well-placed piece promises success.^[7]

As an intensifier Stein- came to be felt as a mere “very”: steinreich (15th century) first meant “rich in precious stones”, and steinalt is from the 16th century.^[4][7] The verb steinigen “to stone to death” is from the 15th century, replacing steinen, and versteinern from the end of the 17th.^[4]

Timeline

• Late 8th century – stein appears in the Abrogans.^[9]
• c. 800 – The adjectives steinag “stony” and steinīn “of stone” are recorded.^[4]
• 9th century – Old High German steinōn “to stone” appears.^[4]
• 15th century – steinigen and steinreich are recorded.^[4]
• c. 1500 – steinern replaces older steinīn.^[4]
• 16th century – Steine in den Weg legen, Stein und Bein schwören and steinalt appear.^[4][7]
• End of the 17th century – versteinern replaces versteinen.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Stone as a material, the hard mineral matter of the earth's crust.^[8][1]
2. A stone: a piece of rock of any size.^[8][1]
3. A building block such as a brick.^[8][1]
4. A precious stone, a gem (Edelstein).^[8][14]
5. A gravestone (Grabstein).^[8][14]
6. A piece in a board game (Spielstein).^[8][1]
7. The hard stone of a fruit, its pit.^[8][1]
8. (sport) The block of metal thrown in stone-putting.^[8]
9. (medicine) A calculus, such as a gallstone or kidney stone.^[8][14]
10. (regional) A beer mug.^[8][1]
11. (historical) A unit of weight.^[1][11]

Word family

• steinig
• steinern
• steinigen
• versteinern
• steinreich
• steinalt
• steinhart
• Edelstein
• Grabstein

Related words

• English stone

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 18, 1965
3. ^ a b c d Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 880
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
7. ^ a b c d e Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. 8, 1022
10. ^ Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 312
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
12. ^ Lexer, Matthias (1872–1878), Mittelhochdeutsches Handwörterbuch, 3 vols., Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities
13. ^ Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
14. ^ a b c Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org