hornstone

[ hawrn-stohn ]

noun

, Archaic.

1. a variety of quartz resembling flint.

hornstone

/ ˈhɔːnˌstəʊn /

noun

1. another name for chert hornfels

Word History and Origins

Origin of hornstone¹

1720–30; translation of German Hornstein

Word History and Origins

Origin of hornstone¹

C17: translation of German Hornstein; so called from its appearance

Example Sentences

In the early days, Greenlawn was dotted with wooden markers but by the 1820s, burial markers were crafted from hornstone, which was stronger and more durable than wood.

From Washington Times

The pebbles on the beach consist of quartz, red jasper, hornstone, and flinty slate, but do not contain any stone resembling chalk flint.

From Project Gutenberg

Masses, and in some instances nodules, of hornstone, resembling true flint, are found imbedded in it; yet it is not to be confounded with the chalk formation.

From Project Gutenberg

The porphyry has a compact basis, like hornstone, of a dull brown colour, which contains imbedded crystals of felspar and quartz, and occasionally of augite.

From Project Gutenberg

The facing of the cloven surfaces was done by hammer-dressing, using rounded masses of quartzose hornstone, held in the hand without any handle.

From Project Gutenberg