Stone vs. Aggregate — What's the Difference?
By Fiza Rafique & Urooj Arif — Updated on April 25, 2024
Stone refers to a natural, solid mineral material often used individually in construction and decoration, while aggregate is a broad category of coarse to medium-grained materials, including crushed stone, used mainly in construction.
Difference Between Stone and Aggregate
Table of Contents
ADVERTISEMENT
Key Differences
Stone is typically used in its natural form or as cut and polished for construction and decorative purposes, such as building facades and monuments. In contrast, aggregate consists of various materials like crushed stone, sand, and gravel, which are essential for creating concrete and other construction composites.
Stones are often selected for their aesthetic value and durability, used singularly or as part of larger structures. On the other hand, aggregates are valued for their mechanical properties and are used en masse, providing strength and stability to building materials such as concrete and asphalt.
The use of stone in construction can be seen in iconic historical buildings and is prized for its natural appearance and long-lasting qualities. Whereas aggregates are mostly hidden within other materials, playing a crucial role in the infrastructure by improving the integrity and longevity of roads, bridges, and buildings.
Stones can be sourced from quarries where large blocks are extracted and then cut to size. In contrast, aggregates are typically produced by mining rock deposits and crushing them into various sizes needed for construction purposes.
While stone is often more expensive and used for specific, visible applications, aggregate is ubiquitous in the construction industry due to its versatility and cost-effectiveness, making it essential for a wide range of construction tasks.
ADVERTISEMENT
Comparison Chart
Definition
Natural, solid mineral material used in construction
Coarse to medium-grained material used in construction
Usage
Aesthetic and structural elements in buildings
Base material for concrete, asphalt, and other composites
Material composition
Singular mineral types like granite, marble
Mixture of materials like crushed stone, sand, gravel
Visual Importance
High, often visible and featured
Low, usually serves a structural purpose and is not seen
Cost and Availability
Generally more expensive, varies by type
More affordable, widely available
Compare with Definitions
Stone
A hard, solid non-metallic mineral matter.
The path was lined with smooth stones.
Aggregate
A whole formed by combining several elements.
The aggregate of the expenses amounted to thousands.
Stone
A gem or precious rock, often cut and polished for jewelry.
The ring featured a large, brilliant stone.
Aggregate
To collect or gather into a mass or whole.
The survey results were aggregated to show trends.
Stone
A piece of rock quarried and worked into a specific size and shape.
They used large stones to build the walls.
Aggregate
A mass or grouping of distinct particles.
An aggregate of colorful pebbles decorated the garden path.
Stone
A small piece of rock, often used to refer to pebbles or gravel.
She collected colorful stones from the beach.
Aggregate
Materials like gravel or crushed stone, mixed with cement to make concrete.
They ordered tons of aggregate for the new road.
Stone
A unit of weight equal to 14 pounds.
He lost three stones in weight last year.
Aggregate
The total score in a set of games or matches.
The team's aggregate was high enough to win the championship.
Stone
Hard solid non-metallic mineral matter of which rock is made, especially as a building material
The houses are built of stone
High stone walls
Aggregate
A whole formed by combining several separate elements
The council was an aggregate of three regional assemblies
Stone
A piece of stone shaped for a purpose, especially one of commemoration, ceremony, or demarcation
A memorial stone
Boundary stones
Aggregate
A material or structure formed from a mass of fragments or particles loosely compacted together
The specimen is an aggregate of rock and mineral fragments
Stone
A hard seed in a cherry, plum, peach, and some other fruits.
Aggregate
Formed or calculated by the combination of several separate elements; total
The aggregate amount of grants made
Stone
A unit of weight equal to 14 lb (6.35 kg)
I weighed 10 stone
Aggregate
Form or group into a class or cluster
Socio-occupational groups aggregate men sharing similar kinds of occupation
The butterflies aggregate in dense groups
Stone
A natural shade of whitish or brownish-grey
Stone stretch trousers
Aggregate
Constituting or amounting to a whole; total
Aggregate sales in that market.
Stone
Throw stones at
Two people were stoned to death
Policemen were stoned by the crowd
Aggregate
(Botany) Crowded or massed into a dense cluster.
Stone
Remove the stone from (a fruit).
Aggregate
Composed of a mixture of minerals separable by mechanical means.
Stone
Build, face, or pave with stone
The honey-stoned, eighteenth-century city
Aggregate
A total considered with reference to its constituent parts; a gross amount
"An empire is the aggregate of many states under one common head" (Edmund Burke).
Stone
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; rock.
Aggregate
The mineral materials, such as sand or stone, used in making concrete.
Stone
Such concreted matter of a particular type. Often used in combination
Sandstone.
Soapstone.
Aggregate
To gather into a mass, sum, or whole
Aggregated the donations into one bank account.
Stone
A small piece of rock.
Aggregate
To amount to; total
Revenues will aggregate more than one million dollars.
Stone
A piece of rock that is used in construction
A coping stone.
A paving stone.
Aggregate
To collect (content from different sources on the internet) into one webpage or newsreader.
Stone
A gravestone or tombstone.
Aggregate
To come together or collect in a mass or whole
"Some [bacteria]aggregate so closely as to mimic a multicellular organism" (Gina Kolata). "The first stars began to form when hydrogen and helium gas left over from the Big Bang aggregated into dense clouds" (Paul Davies).
Stone
A grindstone, millstone, or whetstone.
Aggregate
A mass, assemblage, or sum of particulars; something consisting of elements but considered as a whole.
Stone
A milestone or boundary.
Aggregate
A mass formed by the union of homogeneous particles; – in distinction from a compound, formed by the union of heterogeneous particles.
Stone
A gem or precious stone.
Aggregate
A set collection of objects.
Stone
Something, such as a hailstone, resembling a stone in shape or hardness.
Aggregate
(music) The full chromatic scale of twelve equal tempered pitches.
Stone
(Botany) The hard covering enclosing the seed in certain fruits, such as the cherry, plum, or peach.
Aggregate
(sports) The total score in a set of games between teams or competitors, usually the combination of the home and away scores.
Stone
(Medicine) A mineral concretion in an organ, such as the kidney or gallbladder, or other body part; a calculus.
Aggregate
(roofing) Crushed stone, crushed slag or water-worn gravel used for surfacing a built-up roof system.
Stone
Pl. stone Abbr. st. A unit of weight in Great Britain, 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms).
Aggregate
Solid particles of low aspect ratio added to a composite material, as distinguished from the matrix and any fibers or reinforcements; especially the gravel and sand added to concrete.
Stone
(Printing) A table with a smooth surface on which page forms are composed.
Aggregate
(Buddhism) Any of the five attributes that constitute the sentient being.
Stone
Relating to or made of stone
A stone wall.
Aggregate
A mechanical mixture of more than one phase.
Stone
Made of stoneware or earthenware.
Aggregate
Formed by a collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; collective; combined; added up.
Stone
Complete; utter. Often used in combination
A stone liar.
Stone-deaf.
Aggregate
Consisting or formed of smaller objects or parts.
Stone
Completely; utterly
Stone cold.
Standing stone still.
Aggregate
Formed into clusters or groups of lobules.
Aggregate glands
Stone
To hurl or throw stones at, especially to kill with stones.
Aggregate
(botany) Composed of several florets within a common involucre, as in the daisy; or of several carpels formed from one flower, as in the raspberry.
Stone
To remove the stones or pits from.
Aggregate
Having the several component parts adherent to each other only to such a degree as to be separable by mechanical means.
Stone
To furnish, fit, pave, or line with stones.
Aggregate
United into a common organized mass; said of certain compound animals.
Stone
To rub on or with a stone in order to polish or sharpen.
Aggregate
(transitive) To bring together; to collect into a mass or sum.
The aggregated soil.
Stone
(Sports) To block a shot taken by (an opponent). Used of a goalie.
Aggregate
To add or unite (e.g. a person), to an association.
Stone
(Obsolete) To make hard or indifferent.
Aggregate
(transitive) To amount in the aggregate to.
There are ten loads, aggregating five hundred bushels.
Stone
(uncountable) A hard earthen substance that can form large rocks.
Aggregate
To bring together; to collect into a mass or sum. "The aggregated soil."
Stone
A small piece of stone, a pebble.
Aggregate
To add or unite, as, a person, to an association.
It is many times hard to discern to which of the two sorts, the good or the bad, a man ought to be aggregated.
Stone
A gemstone, a jewel, especially a diamond.
Aggregate
To amount in the aggregate to; as, ten loads, aggregating five hundred bushels.
Stone
(British) A unit of mass equal to 14 pounds (≈6.3503 kilograms), formerly used for various commodities (wool, cheese, etc.), but now principally used for personal weight.
Aggregate
Formed by a collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; collective.
The aggregate testimony of many hundreds.
Stone
(botany) The central part of some fruits, particularly drupes; consisting of the seed and a hard endocarp layer.
A peach stone
Aggregate
Formed into clusters or groups of lobules; as, aggregate glands.
Stone
(medicine) A hard, stone-like deposit.
Aggregate
Composed of several florets within a common involucre, as in the daisy; or of several carpels formed from one flower, as in the raspberry.
Stone
(board games) A playing piece made of any hard material, used in various board games such as backgammon and go.
Aggregate
Having the several component parts adherent to each other only to such a degree as to be separable by mechanical means.
Stone
A dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
Aggregate
United into a common organized mass; - said of certain compound animals.
Stone
(curling) A 42-pound, precisely shaped piece of granite with a handle attached, which is bowled down the ice.
Aggregate
A mass, assemblage, or sum of particulars; as, a house is an aggregate of stone, brick, timber, etc.
Stone
A monument to the dead; a gravestone or tombstone.
Aggregate
A mass formed by the union of homogeneous particles; - in distinction from a compound, formed by the union of heterogeneous particles.
Stone
(obsolete) A mirror, or its glass.
Aggregate
A sum total of many heterogenous things taken together
Stone
(obsolete) A testicle.
Aggregate
The whole amount
Stone
A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc. before printing.
Aggregate
Amount in the aggregate to
Stone
(transitive) To pelt with stones, especially to kill by pelting with stones.
She got stoned to death after they found her.
Aggregate
Gather in a mass, sum, or whole
Stone
(transitive) To wall with stones.
Aggregate
Gathered or tending to gather into a mass or whole;
Aggregate expenses include expenses of all divisions combined for the entire year
The aggregated amount of indebtedness
Stone
(transitive) To remove a stone from (fruit etc.).
Aggregate
Formed of separate units in a cluster;
Raspberries are aggregate fruits
Stone
(intransitive) To form a stone during growth, with reference to fruit etc.
Stone
To intoxicate, especially with narcotics. Usually in passive
Stone
To do nothing, to stare blankly into space and not pay attention when relaxing or when bored.
Stone
(transitive) To lap with an abrasive stone to remove surface irregularities.
Stone
Constructed of stone.
Stone walls
Stone
Having the appearance of stone.
Stone pot
Stone
Of a dull light grey or beige, like that of some stones.
Stone
(AAVE) Used as an intensifier.
She is one stone fox.
Stone
As a stone used with following adjective.
My father is stone deaf. This soup is stone cold.
Stone
(slang) Absolutely, completely used with following adjectives.
I went stone crazy after she left.
I said the medication made my vision temporarily blurry, it did not make me stone blind.
Stone
Concreted earthy or mineral matter; also, any particular mass of such matter; as, a house built of stone; the boy threw a stone; pebbles are rounded stones.
They had brick for stone, and slime . . . for mortar.
Stone
A precious stone; a gem.
Stone
Something made of stone. Specifically: -
Stone
The glass of a mirror; a mirror.
Lend me a looking-glass;If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,Why, then she lives.
Stone
A calculous concretion, especially one in the kidneys or bladder; the disease arising from a calculus.
Stone
A monument to the dead; a gravestone.
Should some relenting eyeGlance on the where our cold relics lie.
Stone
One of the testes; a testicle.
Stone
The hard endocarp of drupes; as, the stone of a cherry or peach. See Illust. of Endocarp.
Stone
A weight which legally is fourteen pounds, but in practice varies with the article weighed.
Stone
Fig.: Symbol of hardness and insensibility; torpidness; insensibility; as, a heart of stone.
I have not yet forgot myself to stone.
Stone
A stand or table with a smooth, flat top of stone, commonly marble, on which to arrange the pages of a book, newspaper, etc., before printing; - called also imposing stone.
Stone
To pelt, beat, or kill with stones.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Stone
To make like stone; to harden.
O perjured woman! thou dost stone my heart.
Stone
To free from stones; also, to remove the seeds of; as, to stone a field; to stone cherries; to stone raisins.
Stone
To wall or face with stones; to line or fortify with stones; as, to stone a well; to stone a cellar.
Stone
To rub, scour, or sharpen with a stone.
Stone
A lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter;
He threw a rock at me
Stone
Material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust;
That mountain is solid rock
Stone is abundant in New England and there are many quarries
Stone
Building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose;
He wanted a special stone to mark the site
Stone
A crystalline rock that can be cut and polished for jewelry;
He had the gem set in a ring for his wife
She had jewels made of all the rarest stones
Stone
The hard inner (usually woody) layer of the pericarp of some fruits (as peaches or plums or cherries or olives) that contains the seed;
You should remove the stones from prunes before cooking
Stone
An avoirdupois unit used to measure the weight of a human body; equal to 14 pounds;
A heavy chap who must have weighed more than twenty stone
Stone
United States filmmaker (born in 1946)
Stone
United States feminist and suffragist (1818-1893)
Stone
United States journalist who advocated liberal causes (1907-1989)
Stone
United States jurist who served on the United States Supreme Court as Chief Justice (1872-1946)
Stone
United States architect (1902-1978)
Stone
A lack of feeling or expression or movement;
He must have a heart of stone
Her face was as hard as stone
Stone
Kill by throwing stones at;
Adulterers should be stoned according to the Koran
Stone
Remove the pits from;
Pit plums and cherries
Stone
Of any of various dull tannish-gray colors
Common Curiosities
How does the environmental impact of mining stone compare to that of producing aggregate?
Both have significant environmental impacts, but mining stone can be more disruptive due to quarrying large, intact blocks, whereas aggregate production often involves processing existing rock deposits.
What makes aggregate essential in building construction?
Aggregate is essential for providing structural integrity, being a key component in concrete, asphalt, and other construction materials.
What is the primary use of stone in construction?
Stone is primarily used for its aesthetic appeal and durability in construction, particularly in visible areas of buildings and landscaping.
What are the geological sources of stone used in construction?
Stones like granite, marble, and limestone are quarried from the Earth’s crust, originating from various geological processes.
Are there sustainable alternatives to stone and aggregate in construction?
Yes, recycled materials and industrial by-products like slag and fly ash are being used as sustainable alternatives to traditional stone and aggregate.
How do the aesthetic values of stone and aggregate differ in architectural design?
Stone is often chosen for its unique, natural appearance and is used in design elements that are meant to be seen, while aggregate is usually functional and hidden within other materials.
Can stone be considered a type of aggregate?
Yes, crushed stone is a type of aggregate used specifically for its strength and compaction properties.
Why is aggregate more affordable than natural stone?
Aggregate is more affordable due to its abundance and the less intensive processing required compared to cutting and polishing stone.
What role does texture play in the choice of stone vs. aggregate?
Texture influences the choice; smooth, polished stone is preferred for visual appeal, while rough aggregate is chosen for its binding and structural properties.
Can aggregates be used alone in construction?
Aggregates are rarely used alone; they are typically mixed with a binding agent like cement to form concrete.
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Cute vs. Sweet
Next Comparison
Feeling vs. IdeaAuthor Spotlight
Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Co-written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
