Kilo Lingo

#356 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

stone; rock, milestone

Examples

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A large stone lay in the road.

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He threw a stone into the water.

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The wall was made of stone.

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He struck at the enemy with a stone.

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The stones of the old temple still stand.

Lapis, lapidis, m., third declension. The stem is lapid-, so the nominative is the one form that hides it. Latin keeps three words apart where English mostly uses one: lapis is a stone you could lift or a worked block, saxum a rock or boulder, rupes a cliff face.

It also means a milestone, because Roman roads were measured by them, so ad tertium lapidem is "three miles out" and says nothing about masonry. In medieval technical prose lapis can be a gem or the alchemists' lapis philosophorum. English took lapidary, lapis lazuli and dilapidated, which literally means "having had its stones removed"; Spanish piedra and French pierre come from petra instead.

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Latin · Free printables

lapis: worksheet, infographic and listicle

Free printable study downloads for the Latin word "lapis" (stone; rock, milestone): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.

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This word is part of lesson 8.