English 'rock' (stone) entered from Old North French 'roque,' from Vulgar Latin *rocca, of uncertain deeper origin — possibly pre-Indo-European substrate — largely displacing the native Old English 'stān' (stone) for large formations while 'stone' kept the smaller, countable sense.
A large, solid mass of stone forming part of the earth's surface; a piece of stone of any size; any hard, consolidated mineral matter.
From Middle English 'rokke,' from Old North French 'roque' (later Old French 'roche'), from Vulgar Latin *rocca, of uncertain ultimate origin. Some scholars connect it to Celtic (compare Breton 'roc'h,' Irish 'carraig'), while others suggest a pre-Indo-European Mediterranean substrate word. The native English word for rock was 'stān' (stone), which
The word 'rocket' may derive from Italian 'rocchetta' (a small distaff or spindle), but some etymologists connect it to 'rocca' (rock) via the shape of early firework tubes. Meanwhile, 'Alcatraz' comes from Arabic 'al-qaṭrās' (pelican), not from any word meaning rock — though the rocky island certainly earned its forbidding reputation.