Sandstone
nounA sedimentary rock made of compacted, cemented grains of sand, often used in building.
How to spell sandstone
9 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce sandstone
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does sandstone mean?
- nounA sedimentary rock made of compacted, cemented grains of sand, often used in building.
Sandstone in a sentence
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The old church was built from warm yellow sandstone.
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The canyon walls show layers of red sandstone laid down over millions of years.
Where does sandstone come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
This is a transparent English compound, built from two very old native words: 'sand' and 'stone'. 'Sand' descends from the Old English 'sand', a Germanic word shared with Dutch 'zand' and German 'Sand', referring to the fine, gritty particles worn away from rock. 'Stone' comes from Old English 'stan', also Germanic, related to Dutch 'steen' and German 'Stein'. Geologists adopted the literal compound 'sandstone' from the 1660s onward to name a rock formed when grains of sand are compacted and cemented together over long ages. Because both halves are plain Anglo-Saxon words, the spelling is delightfully logical: it really is sand turned into stone.
How the word is built
- sand (granular eroded rock)
- stone (solid mineral mass)
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