Etymograph

English

stonehard

Stonehard comes from Middle English ston-hard, and goes back to Old English *stānheard.

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stānheard1reconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ston-hard1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1998stonehard1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English stonehard
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1998, Oliver Stone, A Child's Night Dream: “To stare into his cold stonehard heart.”.

Lineage

  1. Old Englishc. 450–1150*stānheardWiktionary, English stonehardreconstructed
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ston-hardWiktionary, English stonehard
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1998stonehardWiktionary, English stonehard. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1998, Oliver Stone, A Child's Night Dream: “To stare into his cold stonehard heart.”

A compound of stone + hard

Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂- ‘to stiffen’

…

Proto-Germanic *stainaz

Proto-West Germanic *stain

Old English stān

Middle English ston ‘a stone’

English stone

Proto-Germanic *harduz

Proto-West Germanic *hard(ī)

Old English heard ‘hard’

Middle English hard

English hard

Every English word from Old English *stānheard

Today it means

adj Hard as stone

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “stonehard”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old English *stānheard / stonehard

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