<p>Most sources say that rocks are made of stones. (Or at least that stones are rock fragments.)  </p>

<p>From the Bing dictionary (definition of stone):</p>

<blockquote>
  <ol>
  <li>hard nonmetallic material: the hard solid nonmetallic substance <strong>that rocks are made of</strong>.  </li>
  <li>rock fragment: <strong>a small piece of rock</strong> of any shape  </li>
  <li>shaped <strong>rock fragment</strong>: a <strong>piece of rock</strong> that has been shaped for a particular purpose, e.g. a gravestone</li>
  </ol>
</blockquote>

<p>Quoting from a blog post by David B. Williams on <a href="http://geologywriter.com/blog/stories-in-stone-blog/rock-or-stone-is-there-a-difference/">geologywriter.com</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>... The first definition for rock is “A large rugged mass of hard mineral material or stone.” ... defines stone as “A piece of rock or hard mineral substance of a small or moderate size,”... </p>
</blockquote>

<p><br>
Some other things people think distinguish the two:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>...some people thought that stone was more British; that rock could be hard and soft, whereas stone was always hard; that stones are smooth and rocks rough; and that stones are small and rocks are big. In his wonderful book, Stone by Stone, Robert Thorson writes “Rock is raw material in situ. Stone usually connotes either human handling or human use, although it can also be used to describe naturally produced fragments of rock larger than a cobble.”  </p>
</blockquote>

<p>(Quoted from that same post mentioned above)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-30T15:57:34.950Z
2014-05-30T15:57:34.950Z
Azzie Rogers
<p>Here, you can use this shoddily drawn table.</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HpeOj.jpg" alt="A table about the difficult to put into words difference between ROCK and STONE"></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-23T12:29:03.193Z
Don't get the joke reference...
Pacerier
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-20T13:38:10.590Z
2015-01-20T13:38:10.590Z
Matt Hall
<ol>
<li>A rock is a large stone - immovable by hand possibly</li>
<li>Rock is made up of stone in the sense where stone is a substance</li>
<li>Stones are fragments of a rock also made up of stone but are themselves objects</li>
</ol>

<p>The problem here is differentiating between a stone and stone. One being an object and the other a substance? Once clarified then the difference between a rock and a stone can be possibly be clarified.</p>

<p>So to answer the question above - yes there is a difference - a rock is an object and stone is a substance.</p>

<p>If the question was 'is there a difference between a rock and a stone' then size or weight could possibly be the answer.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-16T17:42:37.763Z
2015-02-01T20:39:31.207Z
2015-02-01T20:39:31.207Z
John
<p>The definition I've seen before is one of <em>context</em>.</p>

<p>You know where a rock came from - eg. you may have recorded it in your field notebook.</p>

<p>A stone has an unknown origin - eg. stones  on the road, in a river, etc.</p>

<p>As such, I guess most glacial erratics are technically stones rather than rocks :-)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-30T14:02:00.967Z
2014-05-30T14:02:00.967Z
winwaed
<p>stone is an engineering term - so applicable to gravel, hardcore for roads etc etc. Doesn't matter at all what its made of.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-10T19:48:42.053Z
2015-02-10T19:48:42.053Z
helen
<p>I'm quoting from my old <em>The Penguin Dictionary of Geology</em> by D. G. A Whitten &amp; 
J. R. V. Brooks, published in 1979.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Rock</strong> (1) To the geologist any mass of mineral matter, whether consolidated or not, which forms part of the Earth's crust ... (2) The
  civil engineer regards rock as something hard, consolidated, and/or
  load bearing, which, where necessary, has to be removed by blasting.
  This concept also accords with the popular idea of the meaning of the
  word.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Stone</strong> In geology the word 'stone' is admissible only in combinations such as limestone, sandstone, etc., or where it is used
  as the name for extracted material - building stone, stone road. It
  should not be used as a synonym for rock or pebble.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-22T05:49:01.693Z
2015-02-01T20:41:48.627Z
2015-02-01T20:41:48.627Z
Fred
<p>I couldn't find the definitions from either source:</p>

<p><a href="http://geology.com/geology-dictionary.shtml" rel="noreferrer">Geology Dictionary</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/glossary-of-geologic-terms/" rel="noreferrer">Glossary of Geologic Terms</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-30T04:47:39.893Z
[Difference Between Rocks and Stones](http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-rocks-and-stones/)
blunders
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-31T20:56:20.927Z
Ayers Rock is made out of sandstone. Before it was deemed protected, if you mined chunks out of Ayers Rock and exported them they would have been called "stone".
David Hammen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-21T04:05:12.223Z
You might want to post the question of the English Language & Usage site & see what answers you get there. The definitions of rock & stone may be due to the words originating in different parts of England & over time the difference has been lost to the vast majority of English language speakers & users.
Fred
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-01-21T14:22:10.730Z
@Fred I just checked over at the site you had recommended.  Apparently someone has asked this question back in 2010.  See here:http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5931/whats-the-difference-between-rock-and-stone  I asked this question thinking there might be some quantifiable definition that distinguishes the two terms.  From that site one answer was that, "Stone is of Germanic origin, rock is of Romance origin. That's the real difference. English has many synonyms due to words from different sources." -- GEdgar
Armadillo
<geology><rocks><petrology><terminology>
Is there a difference between rock and stone?
Armadillo
# Is there a difference between rock and stone?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-29)

I couldn't find the definitions from either source:

[Geology Dictionary](http://geology.com/geology-dictionary.shtml)

[Glossary of Geologic Terms](http://www.ge-at.iastate.edu/glossary-of-geologic-terms/)

**Tags:** geology, rocks, petrology, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [Difference Between Rocks and Stones](http://www.differencebetween.net/science/nature/difference-between-rocks-and-stones/)  
> **username_2**: Ayers Rock is made out of sandstone. Before it was deemed protected, if you mined chunks out of Ayers Rock and exported them they would have been called "stone".  
> **username_3**: You might want to post the question of the English Language & Usage site & see what answers you get there. The definitions of rock & stone may be due to the words originating in different parts of England & over time the difference has been lost to the vast majority of English language speakers & users.  
> **username_0**: @username_3 I just checked over at the site you had recommended.  Apparently someone has asked this question back in 2010.  See here:http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/5931/whats-the-difference-between-rock-and-stone  I asked this question thinking there might be some quantifiable definition that distinguishes the two terms.  From that site one answer was that, "Stone is of Germanic origin, rock is of Romance origin. That's the real difference. English has many synonyms due to words from different sources." -- GEdgar  

---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2015-01-22. Score: 14 | Accepted answer

I'm quoting from my old *The Penguin Dictionary of Geology* by D. G. A Whitten &
J. R. V. Brooks, published in 1979.

> **Rock** (1) To the geologist any mass of mineral matter, whether consolidated or not, which forms part of the Earth's crust ... (2) The
> civil engineer regards rock as something hard, consolidated, and/or
> load bearing, which, where necessary, has to be removed by blasting.
> This concept also accords with the popular idea of the meaning of the
> word.
>
> **Stone** In geology the word 'stone' is admissible only in combinations such as limestone, sandstone, etc., or where it is used
> as the name for extracted material - building stone, stone road. It
> should not be used as a synonym for rock or pebble.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-01-20. Score: 15

Here, you can use this shoddily drawn table.

![A table about the difficult to put into words difference between ROCK and STONE](https://i.sstatic.net/HpeOj.jpg)

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Don't get the joke reference...  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2014-05-30. Score: 10

Most sources say that rocks are made of stones. (Or at least that stones are rock fragments.)

From the Bing dictionary (definition of stone):

> 1. hard nonmetallic material: the hard solid nonmetallic substance **that rocks are made of**.
> 2. rock fragment: **a small piece of rock** of any shape
> 3. shaped **rock fragment**: a **piece of rock** that has been shaped for a particular purpose, e.g. a gravestone

Quoting from a blog post by username_2 B. Williams on [geologywriter.com](http://geologywriter.com/blog/stories-in-stone-blog/rock-or-stone-is-there-a-difference/)

> ... The first definition for rock is “A large rugged mass of hard mineral material or stone.” ... defines stone as “A piece of rock or hard mineral substance of a small or moderate size,”...

Some other things people think distinguish the two:

> ...some people thought that stone was more British; that rock could be hard and soft, whereas stone was always hard; that stones are smooth and rocks rough; and that stones are small and rocks are big. In his wonderful book, Stone by Stone, Robert Thorson writes “Rock is raw material in situ. Stone usually connotes either human handling or human use, although it can also be used to describe naturally produced fragments of rock larger than a cobble.”

(Quoted from that same post mentioned above)


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-01-16. Score: 4

1. A rock is a large stone - immovable by hand possibly
2. Rock is made up of stone in the sense where stone is a substance
3. Stones are fragments of a rock also made up of stone but are themselves objects

The problem here is differentiating between a stone and stone. One being an object and the other a substance? Once clarified then the difference between a rock and a stone can be possibly be clarified.

So to answer the question above - yes there is a difference - a rock is an object and stone is a substance.

If the question was 'is there a difference between a rock and a stone' then size or weight could possibly be the answer.


---

### Answer by username_8 on 2014-05-30. Score: 2

The definition I've seen before is one of *context*.

You know where a rock came from - eg. you may have recorded it in your field notebook.

A stone has an unknown origin - eg. stones on the road, in a river, etc.

As such, I guess most glacial erratics are technically stones rather than rocks :-)


---

### Answer by username_9 on 2015-02-10. Score: -1

stone is an engineering term - so applicable to gravel, hardcore for roads etc etc. Doesn't matter at all what its made of.


---

