different between whetstone vs whet

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 whetten, from Old English hwettan (“to whet, sharpen, incite, encourage”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjan, from Proto-Germanic *hwatjan? (“to incite, sharpen”), from Proto-Indo-European *k?eh?d- (“sharp”).

Cognate with Dutch wetten (“to whet, sharpen”), German wetzen (“to whet, sharpen”), Icelandic hvetja (“to whet, encourage, catalyze”), dialectal Danish hvæde (“to whet”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?t/
  • (without wine–whine) IPA^(key): /???t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?t/, [?w?(?)t?]
  • (without wine–whine) IPA^(key): /???t/, [???(?)t?]
• Rhymes: -?t
• Homophone: wet

Verb

whet (third-person singular simple present whets, present participle whetting, simple past and past participle whetted or whet)

1. (transitive) To hone or rub on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening – see whetstone.
   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act IV scene i^[1]:

     Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
2. (transitive) To stimulate or make more keen.

   to whet one's appetite or one's courage

   • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II scene i^[2]:

     Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar, / I have not slept.

   • 1925-29, Mahadev Desai (translator), M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Part I, chapter xv^[3]:

     My faith in vegetarianism grew on me from day to day. Salt's book whetted my appetite for dietetic studies. I went in for all books available on vegetarianism and read them.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To preen.

Derived terms

• whetter (rare)
• whetstone

Translations

Noun

whet (plural whets)

1. The act of whetting something.
2. That which whets or sharpens; especially, an appetizer.

   • sips, drams, and whets

   • 1769, Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper

     To make a nice Whet before Dinner […]

Anagrams

• thew