lodestone
noun
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The word lodestone is sometimes confused, understandably, with the similar-sounding lodestar. Both combine lode, which comes from the Old English noun lād, meaning “course,” with another word with ancient Old English roots: stone (from stān) and star (from steorra), respectively. Both lodestone and lodestar also refer to things—both literal and figurative—with the power to inspire or compel movement. But while a lodestar is something that leads the way (e.g., a moral principle that guides a person through life), a lodestone draws things toward itself. Sometimes lodestone refers to an actual magnet; indeed, its original use in the early 16th century was as a synonym for magnetite. But it didn’t take long for lodestone to attract a metaphorical sense. Today a business district might be a lodestone for entrepreneurs, or a lottery-playing friend (with the promise of riches as their lodestar) a lodestone—they hope—for good luck.
Examples of lodestone in a Sentence
Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 13 Dec. 2024
With the lodestone defender of his 2024 recruiting class in place, Freeze was set to make the largest splash possible during one of Auburn’s most important recruiting weekends of the year.
—Joseph Goodman | Jgoodman@al.com, al, 2 Aug. 2023
Davies has basically just tapped into my intellectual lodestone here.
—David Karpf, WIRED, 27 July 2023
And hey, just spitballing here, but maybe the next big pile of money should actually go to, say, the millions of college students who played by the rules and are now shackled with a lodestone of debt rather than going to the same old band of rich narcissists who put us in this hole.
—Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 1 Apr. 2023
See All Example Sentences for lodestone
Cite this Entry
“Lodestone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lodestone. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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