'stone-dead' originates from English as a compound of the words 'stone' and 'dead'; 'stone' itself comes from Old English 'stān', where 'stān' meant 'stone', and 'dead' comes from Old English 'dēad', meaning 'dead'.

'stone-dead' developed in Early Modern English as a figurative compound (literally suggesting 'as dead as a stone') and was reinforced by similar emphatic compounds such as 'stone-cold' and 'stone-deaf'.

Initially it evoked the literal image 'as dead as a stone'; over time it became an emphatic adjective/adverb meaning 'completely dead' or 'utterly unresponsive'.