keystone

key·stone

noun \ˈkē-ˌstōn\

Definition of KEYSTONE

1

: the wedge-shaped piece at the crown of an arch that locks the other pieces in place — see arch illustration

2

: something on which associated things depend for support <determination, a keystone of the puritan ethic — L. S. Lewis>

3

: a species of plant or animal that produces a major impact (as by predation) on its ecosystem and is considered essential to maintaining optimum ecosystem function or structure

Examples of KEYSTONE

1. Tourism is the city's economic keystone.
2. the keystone of his faith

First Known Use of KEYSTONE

circa 1637

Related to KEYSTONE

Synonyms

basis, bedrock, bottom, cornerstone, footing, foundation, ground, groundwork, base, root, underpinning, warp, warp and woof

Related Words

anchorage, bed, brace, bulwark, buttress, framework, infrastructure, mount, prop, shore, stay, substratum, substructure, support; assumption, justification, premise (also premiss), presumption, presupposition, rationale, supposition, theory, thesis, warrant; backbone, center, core, cornerstone, eye, focus, heart, hub, kernel, base, nucleus, seat; essence, quintessence, soul, touchstone

Other Architecture Terms

buttress, casita, cornice, fanlight, garret, lintel, parapet, pilaster, plinth

Rhymes with KEYSTONE

agon, aitchbone, alone, atone, backbone, Bastogne, bemoan, Big Stone, birthstone, Blackstone, bloodstone, bluestone, bondstone, Boulogne, breastbone, bridge loan, brimstone, brownstone, call loan, calzone, Capone, capstone, cell phone, cheekbone, chinbone, cogon, cologne, Cologne, colon, colón, Colón, condone, copestone, corn pone, curbstone, cyclone, daimon, dapsone, debone, depone, dethrone, dial tone, disown, Dordogne, downzone, dripstone, drop zone, drystone, earphone, earth tone, end zone, enthrone, estrone, fieldstone, firestone, Firestone, flagstone, flowstone, flyblown, footstone, freestone, free zone, full-blown, gallstone, gemstone, Gijón, goldstone, gravestone, greenstone, grindstone, hailstone, halftone, handblown, hard stone, headphone, headstone, hearthstone, high-flown, hip bone, homegrown, hormone, hornstone, impone, ingrown, inkstone, in stone, intone, jawbone, jewel tone, León, leone, life zone, limestone, lodestone, long bone, Maidstone, milestone, millstone, moonstone, mudstone, nose cone, oilstone, orgone, ozone, pay phone, peptone, pinbone, pinecone, piñon, pipestone, postpone, potstone, propone, redbone, red zone, rhinestone, sandstone, shade-grown, shinbone, siltstone, snow cone, soapstone, splint bone, strike zone, T-bone, tailbone, thighbone, time zone, toadstone, tombstone, touchstone, touch-tone, tritone, trombone, turnstone, twelve-tone, two-tone, Tyrone, unknown, unthrone, war zone, well-known, whalebone, wheel-thrown, whetstone, windblown, wishbone, Yangon