Results for millstone
On this page:
 
Dictionary:

millstone

  (mĭl'stōn') pronunciation
n.
  1. One of a pair of cylindrical stones used in a mill for grinding grain.
  2. A heavy weight; a burden: This job is a millstone around my neck.

 
 
Thesaurus: millstone

noun

    A duty or responsibility that is a source of anxiety, worry, or hardship: burden1, onus, tax, weight. Informal headache. See heavy/light, over/under.

 

Either of two flat, round stones used for grinding grain to make flour. The stationary bottom stone is carved with shallow grooved channels that radiate from the centre. The upper stone rotates horizontally, and has a central hole through which grain is poured. The channels of the bottom stone lead the grain onto the flat grinding section, called the land, and to the edge, where it emerges as flour. The best millstones are made from French buhrstone, quarried near Paris. In the U.S., quartz conglomerate, quartzite, sandstone, or granite is used. Stone-ground flour accounts for only a small proportion of milled flour today.

For more information on millstone, visit Britannica.com.

 

[Ar]

Large circular slab of coarse rock up to 1m in diameter and typically 0.2–0.3m thick used for grinding grain in a mill. One face is roughened by means of a pattern of lines cut into the surface while the other face may be slightly domed. Millstones were used in pairs (an upper and lower stone), a central hole in each taking the spindle that keeps them concentric and in the case of the upper stone attaches to the power source that turns it.

 
Wikipedia: millstone
The interior of a functional water mill
Enlarge
The interior of a functional water mill
The basic anatomy of a millstone. Note that this is a runner stone. A bedstone would not have the "Spanish Cross" into which the supporting millrynd fits.
Enlarge
The basic anatomy of a millstone. Note that this is a runner stone. A bedstone would not have the "Spanish Cross" into which the supporting millrynd fits.
Millstone with furrows
Enlarge
Millstone with furrows
Grinding maize in a working watermill, Thethi, northern Albania.
Enlarge
Grinding maize in a working watermill, Thethi, northern Albania.
Making furrows on a millstone
Enlarge
Making furrows on a millstone

Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.

Millstones used in Britain were commonly of two types:

  • Derbyshire Peak stones of grey millstone grit, cut from one piece, used for grinding barley; imitation Derbyshire Peak stones are used as decorative signposts at the boundaries of the Peak District National Park. Derbyshire Peak stones wear quickly and are typically used to grind animal feed since they leave stone powder in the flour making it undesirable for human consumption.
  • French burr stones, used for finer grinding. Not cut from one piece, but built up from sections of quartz, cemented together with plaster, and bound with iron bands. French Burr comes from the Marne Valley in northern France.

The surface of a millstone is divided by deep grooves called furrows into separate flat areas called lands. Spreading away from the furrows are smaller grooves called feathering or "cracking". The furrows and lands are arranged in repeating patterns called harps. A typical millstone will have six, eight or ten harps. The grooves provide a cutting edge and help to channel the ground flour out from the stones. When in regular use stones need to be dressed periodically, that is, re-cut to keep the cutting surfaces sharp.

Millstones come in pairs. The base or bedstone is stationary. Above the bedstone is the turning runner stone which actually does the grinding. The runner stone is supported by a cross-shaped metal mill rynd fixed to a "mace head" topping the main shaft or spindle leading to the driving mechanism of the mill (either water or wind powered). The pattern of harps is repeated on the face of each stone, when they are laid face to face the patterns mesh in a kind of "scissoring" motion creating the cutting or grinding function of the stones.

Millstones need to be evenly balanced, and achieving the correct separation of the stones is crucial to producing good quality flour. The experienced miller will be able to adjust their separation very accurately.

See also


 
Translations: Translations for: Millstone

Dansk (Danish)
n. - møllesten, byrde

Nederlands (Dutch)
molensteen, zware last

Français (French)
n. - meule

Deutsch (German)
n. - Mühlstein

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μυλόπετρα

Italiano (Italian)
macina, pietra da mulino

Português (Portuguese)
n. - mó (f)

Русский (Russian)
жернов, бремя

Español (Spanish)
n. - piedra de molino

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - kvarnsten

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
磨石, 重担, 碎器

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 磨石, 重擔, 碎器

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 무거운 짐, 맷돌

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 石, 重荷, やっかい者

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حجر الرحى, عبء ثقيل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮אבן-ריחיים, מעמסה, נטל‬


 
Shopping: millstone
Millstone Garden
 
 

Join the WikiAnswers Q&A community. Post a question or answer questions about "millstone" at WikiAnswers.

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Millstone" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Search for answers directly from your browser with the FREE Answers.com Toolbar!  
Click here to download now. 

Get Answers your way! Check out all our free tools and products.

On this page:   E-mail   print Print  Link  

 

Keep Reading

Mentioned In: