ˈquern-stone
[Cf. ON. kvernsteinn.]
One of the two stones forming a quern; a millstone.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xviii. 6 Behofas him þæt he ᵹehongiᵹa coern-stan..in suire his [c 1000 Ags. Gosp. cwyrn-, cweorn-stan]. 1388 Wyclif Num. xi. 8 And the puple ȝede aboute, and gaderide it, and brak with a queerne stoon. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 725/24 Hec mola, a qwernston. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 23 Theyre corne in quernstoans they doe grind. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 760 Round stones as much as milstones or quernstones. 1662 Ireland, Stat. at Large (1765) II. 416 Quern-stones, large, the last, {pstlg}13. 10s. 1812 J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 242 Quern Stones under three feet in diameter, and not exceeding six inches in thickness. 1875 W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire 43 Opposite the east gable of the Church a quern-stone..has been stuck up. |