Lapidation
/ˌlæpɪˈdeɪʃən/noun
The act of stoning someone to death; execution by throwing stones.
Did you know?Lapidation comes from the same Latin root as *lapis* (“stone”), and the word survives in legal and historical writing because stoning was once a formalized punishment, not just a mob act.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*lep-
“to stone; stone”
Latin
Latin
lapis
“stone”
Late Latin
Latin
lapidatio
“a stoning; throwing of stones”
Old French
Old French
lapidation
“stoning”
Modern English
English
lapidation
“the act of stoning to death”