Lapidate
/ˈlæpɪdeɪt/noun
To stone someone to death; to pelt with stones.
Did you know?It comes from Latin lapidare, from lapis, meaning “stone,” and survives in English mostly in legal, biblical, and historical writing about execution by stoning.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*lep-
“to stone, peel, or strike; the root behind Latin words for stone”
Latin
Latin
lapis
“stone”
Late Latin
Latin
lapidare
“to stone, pelt with stones”
Old French
Old French
lapider
“to stone”
Middle English
English
lapidaten
“to stone to death”
Modern English
English
lapidate
“to stone to death”
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