BLOCK is used for a piece of marble as it comes out of the quarry, before it has assumed any form from the hand of a workman.
Block, in the mechanic arts, a large piece of solid wood whereon to fasten work or to fashion it; strength and stability being the requisite properties. In this sense, we say a chopping block; a sugar-finer's block; a smith's block, on which his anvil is fastened; an executioner's block, on which the criminal's head is laid to be struck off.