millstone

Meaning

Noun

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

Origin

• From Middle English mylnston, milneston, from Old English mylenstān, equivalent to mill + stone, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *malaną ("to grind#Verb"), *muljaną (from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- ("to crush, to grind"), from *mel-) + Proto-Germanic *stainaz ("[[stone") (from Proto-Indo-European *steyh₂-); cognate with Danish møllesten, Middle Dutch molensteen (modern Dutch molensteen), West Frisian molestien, Norwegian Bokmål møllestein, Old Saxon mulinstēn (Middle Low German mȫlenstēn), Old High German mulinstein, mülstein (Middle High German mülstein, modern German Mühlstein).