millstone
(ˈmɪlstəʊn)
Forms: see mill n.1 and stone n.
[f. mill n.1 + stone n.; cf. Du. molensteen, MHG. mülstein (mod.G. mühlstein), Da. m{obar}llesten.]
1. One of a pair of circular stones (the upper of which rotates upon the lower or ‘nether’), used for grinding corn in a mill. nether millstone: see nether a.
| c 1050 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 273/1 Lima, mylenstan. Ibid. 430/28 Lima, feol, oððe mylenstan. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 316 580 A Mulleston, he scholde al-to-driue. c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 61 It spediþ to him þat a mylneston of assis be hangid in his necke. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 295 Sette mahon at þe mangonel and mulle-stones þroweþ. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 4041 A pece of a mylnestone threwe doune there a womman. 1560 Bible (Geneva) Rev. xviii. 21 Then a mightie Angel toke vp a stone like a great milstone, & cast it into the sea. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. i. 151 They malitiouslie occupyes ane greater space betwix the happer and the mylnstane, for their awin profite. 1622 Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi. 391 Shee Mil-stones from the Quarrs, with sharpned picks could get. 1751 J. Ferguson in Fam. Rose Kilravock (Spald. Cl.) 443 The water-wheel moves a train for turning two mill-stones. 1877 Bryant Song of Sower ii, Steadily the millstone turns Down in the willowy vale. |
b. Stone suitable for the making of millstones.
| 1661 J. Childrey Brit. Baconica 153 Millstone is digged in this shire. |
c. carpenter's millstone (see
quot.).
| 1859 R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 55 The carpenter's millstone, is a hard and close variety of the Yorkshire sandstones. |
d. Her. A representation of a millstone (usually depicted with the mill-rind attached).
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 341/1 He beareth Sable, a Mil-Ston Argent. 1874 Papworth & Morant Ord. Brit. Arm. 1100 Az. three millstones ppr. Melveton. |
2. In phrases:
to see far in (into, through),
to look into (through),
to dive into a millstone, used chiefly in ironical commendation of pretended extraordinary acuteness.
| 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 21 She thought Ales, she had seene far in a milstone Whan she gat a husbande. 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed (1808) VI. 18 He would see further in a milstone than others. 1580 Lyly Euphues Wks. 1902 II. 67 Your eyes are so sharpe, that you cannot onely looke through a Milstone, but cleane through the mind. 1625 Hart Anat. Ur. ii. vii. 92 They..could see as farre into a milstone as any of our..Physitians. a 1704 T. Brown Lett. to Gentl. & Ladies Wks. 1709 III. ii. 93 Thou..can'st see as far into a Mill-stone, as the oldest Match-maker in Town. 1871 C. Gibbon Lack of Gold ii, That's all the length your learning helps you to see through a mill-stane. |
¶ b. (his) eyes drop millstones: said of a hard-hearted person. (Perhaps suggested by the hyperbolical phrase in
quot. c 1400.)
| [c 1400 Beryn Prol. 35 Teris..As grete as eny mylstone.] 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 354 Your eyes drop Mill-stones, when Fooles eyes fall Teares. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 158. 1607 Cæsar & Pompey ii. iv. C 3, Mens eyes must mil-stones drop, when fooles shed teares. |
† c. Of dice:
to run a millstone.
| 1680 Cotton Compl. Gamester (ed. 2) 11 Placing the one [die] a top the other, not caring if the uppermost run a Mill-stone (as they use to say) if the undermost run without turning. 1680 Kirkman Eng. Rogue iv. xvi. 226 Knapping, is when you strike one Die dead, either at Tables or Hazzard let the other run a Milstone, as we use to say. |
3. fig. a. A heavy burden (suggested by
Matt. xviii. 6);
b. a grinding or crushing instrument.
| a 1720 Sewel Hist. Quakers (1795) I. iv. 272 When I was between the mill-stones, and as one crushed with the weight of his adversary. 1787 Bentham Def. Usury x. 109 The mill-stone intended for the necks of those vermin..the dealers in corn, was found to fall upon the heads of the consumers. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xiv. 99 John's heart was of millstone, Henry's of wax. 1877 ‘Rita’ Vivienne iv. iv, It is the millstone they hang round our necks. |
† 4. The appellation of a form of taxation in Spain.
| 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 232 There doe not want also other meanes and devices to raise money, as the imposition of the Milstone; which as it is supposed,..will amount to two millions of gold yearely. 1642 Howell For. Trav. (Arb.) 74 The Tally and taillage of France, the Milstone of Spaine,..the Gabels of Italy. |
5. Bell-founding. (See
quot.)
| 1756 Dict. Arts & Sci. s.v. Foundery of Bells, The stake is surrounded with a solid brick-work perfectly round, 5 or 6 inches high, and of a diameter equal to that of the bell. This they call a mill-stone. |
6. attrib., as
millstone-maker,
millstone-quarry;
millstone bridge (see
quot.);
millstone dress = dress n. 3 c;
millstone dresser, (
a) a machine for cutting grooves in the grinding-face of a millstone (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875); (
b) one who dresses or prepares millstones (
Cent. Dict. 1890);
millstone hammer,
pick = mill-pick (Knight);
† millstone rag, a coarse stone suitable for the making of millstones;
† millstone silver, the fee payable for the grinding of corn.
Also in many technical terms, as
millstone-alarm,
millstone-balance,
millstone-bush,
millstone-crane,
millstone-curb,
millstone-driver,
millstone-exhaust,
millstone-feed,
millstone-hoist: see Knight
Dict. Mech. 1875 and
Suppl. 1884.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1443/1 *Millstone-bridge, the bar across the eye of a millstone by which it is supported on the head of the spindle. |
| 1875 Ibid., The draft of a *millstone dress is the degree of deflection of its furrows from a radial direction. |
| 1876 Dunglison Med. Lex., *Millstone-makers' Phthisis, a form of severe bronchitis dependent on the inhalation of the fine particles which separate in the manufacture of millstones. |
| 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 9 Two *millstone quarries of excellent quality are wrought to good account. |
| 1709 Hearne Collect. 16 Apr. (O.H.S.) II. 187 Coarse *millstone rag. |
| 1661 Min. Baron Crt. Stitchill (1905) 21 Dew for payment of Grass maill & *mylle stain silver at thes term of Mertinmas. |