hone

Meanings

Noun

• A sharpening stone composed of extra-fine grit used for removing the burr or curl from the blade of a razor or some other edge tool.
• A machine tool used in the manufacture of precision bores.
• A kind of swelling in the cheek.

Verb

• To sharpen with a hone; to whet.
• To use a hone to produce a precision bore.
• To refine or master (a skill).
• To make more acute, intense, or effective.
• To grumble.
• To pine, lament, or long.

Interjection

• Synonym of alas

Origin

• From Middle English hon, from Old English hān, from Proto-Germanic *hainō (compare Dutch heen, Norwegian hein), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃i- (compare Ancient Greek κῶνος, Persian سان).
• Cognate with Icelandic hnúður.
• French hogner.