different between whetstone vs millstone

English

Etymology

From Middle English whestone, whetston, whetesston, from Old English hwetst?n, from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjastain (“whetstone”). Equivalent to whet (“to sharpen”) +? stone.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w?tst??n/

Noun

whetstone (plural whetstones)

1. A sharpening stone; a hard stone or piece of synthetically bonded hard minerals that has been formed with at least one flat surface, used to sharpen or hone an edged tool.
   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Vintage Classics, paperback edition, page 88-89

     It was as if a stone were ground to dust; as if white sparks flew from a livid whetstone, which was his spine; as if the switchback railway, having swooped to the depths, fell, fell, fell.

2. (computing) A benchmark for evaluating the power and performance of a computer.
3. (figuratively) A stimulant.

Related terms

• stone
• whet

Translations

Verb

whetstone (third-person singular simple present whetstones, present participle whetstoning, simple past and past participle whetstoned)

1. (transitive) To sharpen with a whetstone.

See also

• grind, grindstone
• hone

English

Etymology

From Middle English mylnston, milneston, from Old English mylenst?n (“millstone”), equivalent to mill +? stone, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *malan? (“to grind”), *muljan? (“to crush (into pieces), to grind”) (from Proto-Indo-European *melh?- (“to crush, to grind”), from *mel-) + Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”) (from Proto-Indo-European *steyh?-); cognate with Danish møllesten, Middle Dutch molensteen (modern Dutch molensteen), West Frisian molestien, Norwegian Bokmål møllestein, Old Saxon mulinst?n (Middle Low German m?lenst?n), Old High German mulinstein, mülstein (Middle High German mülstein, modern German Mühlstein).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?m?lst??n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?m?l?sto?n/
• Hyphenation: mill?stone

Noun

millstone (plural millstones)

1. A large round stone used for grinding grain.
2. (geology) A coarse-grained sandstone used for making such stones; millstone grit.
3. (figuratively) Often in a millstone round one's neck (referring to Matthew 18:6 in the Bible): a heavy responsibility that is difficult to bear.

Alternative forms

• mill-stone (dated)

Derived terms

• see into a millstone, see through a millstone

Translations

See also

• albatross around one's neck

Further reading

• millstone on Wikipedia.Wikipedia