'dolostone' originates from English, specifically a compound of 'dolomite' and 'stone', where 'dolomite' ultimately comes from the name of the French geologist 'Dolomieu' and 'stone' meant 'rock'.

'dolostone' was formed in modern English by combining the mineral name 'dolomite' (coined in the late 18th century from the name Dolomieu via French/Italian) with the productive English suffix 'stone' as in 'limestone' or 'sandstone', yielding the term for rock composed largely of dolomite.

The element 'dolomite' initially referred to the mineral named after Dolomieu; over time, the compound 'dolostone' came to be used to denote the rock made predominantly of that mineral, distinguishing it from the mineral itself.