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limestone

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Etymology and origin of the English word limestone

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
late 14th century
Ultimate origin
Old English līm,stān
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English lime
English limestone

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈlaɪmˌstəʊn/[1]
  • US: /ˈlaɪmˌstoʊn/[1]

Etymology

It was formed from English lime + stone in English,[2][3][4][5] because the rock yields lime when it is burned.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The rock that yields lime when burned: Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century,[3] the Shorter Oxford to late Middle English[4] and Merriam-Webster to the 14th century,[6] while the OED's first example is from Fitzherbert's Book of Surveying (1523)[2] and Dictionary.com dates it to 1515–25.[7]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has stayed close to the original: Johnson (1755) defined it as the stone from which lime is made, quoting Mortimer's Husbandry on spreading it on cold land.[5] From 1664, in John Evelyn, it was also used of a particular kind or a piece of this rock,[2] and since the late 17th century attributively, of things made of limestone.[4] The OED notes that marble is its crystalline form.[2] Mostly in American English the rock is also called limerock.[3]

Timeline

  • late 14th century – limestone.[3][4]
  • 1523 – the OED's first example.[2]
  • 1664 – a kind or a piece of the rock.[2]
  • late 17th century – attributive, made of limestone.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A sedimentary rock made chiefly of calcium carbonate, often formed from shells and coral, which yields lime when burned and is used for building and in making cement.
  2. A brownish colour, hair brown.

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
Cite this entry

“Limestone.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/limestone. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·