different between whetstone vs novaculite

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 Latin nov?cula (“dagger”) plus the suffix -ite.

Noun

novaculite (plural novaculites)

1. (geology, mineralogy) A variety of chert, very rich in quartz, that has been used to make whetstones

Further reading

• “novaculite”, in Mindat.org?^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2021.