sandstone

Etymology

It is a compound from English sand + stone,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} so called from what the rock is made of.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rock made of consolidated sand: 1668, in Charleton's Onomasticon Zoicon, in the OED,^[2] and the 1660s in Etymonline;^[3] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1609.^[4] Etymonline also notes an earlier, isolated use from the mid-15th century for some kind of stone.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) described sandstone as a loose, crumbly stone that easily falls back into sand.^[7] In British geology the names Old Red Sandstone and New Red Sandstone were given to two series of red rocks lying below and above the Carboniferous.^[2][5] Etymonline notes that in Britain the rock is sometimes called sandrock.^[3] Merriam-Webster also records sandstone as the name of a light greyish-brown to reddish-brown colour.^[4]

Timeline

• mid-15th century – an isolated use for some kind of stone.^[3]
• 1609 – first known use, according to Merriam-Webster.^[4]
• 1668 – a rock made of consolidated sand.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A sedimentary rock made of grains of sand, usually quartz, cemented together by silica, iron oxide, clay or other material, and often red, yellow, brown, grey or white; it is widely used in building: The old church is built of local sandstone.^[4][9][5]
2. A light greyish-brown to reddish-brown colour.^[4]

Related words

• sand
• stone

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins