STONE, in merchandize, denotes a certain weight for weighing commodities. A stone of beef at London is the quantity of eight pounds: in Herefordshire 12 pounds: in the North 16 pounds. A stone of glass is five pounds; of wax eight pounds. A stone of wool (according to the statute of 11 Hen. VII.) is to weigh 14 pounds; yet in some places it is more, in others less; as in Gloucestershire 15 pounds; in Herefordshire 12 pounds. Among horse-couriers a stone is the weight of 14 pounds.
The reason of the name is evident. Weights at first were generally made of stone. See Deut. xxv. 13, where the word שֶׁנֶה, translated weight, properly signifies a stone.