Make Your Point: KEYSTONE

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pronounce KEYSTONE:

KEE stone

connect this word to others:

Let's place the word keystone in our treasury of figurative stones, along with

1. m___stone: a heavy burden;

2. l___stone: a magnet or powerful attractor;

3. t____stone: a test or standard of excellence;

4. c__stone: a finishing touch or crowning achievement;

and 5. R_____ stone (two words): a way to translate or unlock something mysterious.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

Since the 1600s, the word "keystone" has referred to the stone at the top of an arch that locks all the other pieces into place.

In an abstract sense, also since the 1600s, we've used the word "keystone" figuratively to label some person or thing that's very important and holds everything else together.

(Source)

You might be wondering, if a keystone locks everything together, why is it a "keystone" and not a "lockstone"? Probably because the word "key" has a long history as a metaphor for something powerful, authoritative, important, and central.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Often a noun, the countable kind: "We admired the keystone of the old arch;" "The prospect of the afterlife is a keystone of Christianity."

Also an adjective: "Rice is a keystone ingredient in Asian cooking."

Also a verb, the transitive kind, meaning "to be very important and hold everything else together." You can say that one large thing is "keystoned by" some small, important part. (And the other verb forms are "keystoned" and "keystoning.")

Other forms:

The plural noun is "keystones."

how to use it:

Pick the word "keystone" when you want to compare some large abstract thing—like a campaign, an ecosystem, an organization, or a program—to an architectural arch, and you want to emphasize that some particular person or thing is at the top, keeping it standing upright and strong.

For example, you might say that some specific issue is the keystone of a person's political campaign, that some specific claim or benefit or feature is a keystone of some advertising campaign, that some specific species is the keystone of some ecosystem, that some specific person is the keystone of an organization, or that some specific hope is the keystone of a program.

examples:

"I know he is the organiser, the keystone of this Resistance circuit. I know my life depends on him. I know I can trust him to get me out of here. But I still HATE HIM.''
— Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity, 2012

"Despite its benefits and recognition as a keystone practice of ocean stewardship and conservation, adoption of ecosystem-based management has been slow to take hold."
— University of Maine, Science Daily, 9 May 2024

has this page helped you understand "keystone"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

study it:

Explain the meaning of "keystone" without saying "heart" or "linchpin."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Someone or something) is a keystone (kind of thing) whose (weakening, absence, or demise) would threaten (something larger)."

Example 1: "The Joshua tree is a keystone species whose demise threatens a host of animals that rely on it for food, moisture and shelter."
— Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, 17 August 2023

Example 2: "Washing dishes is a keystone task; neglect it for just a couple of nights, and the whole household falls into chaos."

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Coaxed into a Haiku!"

I'll give you the basics of a news story, and you boil the story down into a haiku. You can check out some examples here.

Feel free to take full creative license, omitting or warping the facts, adding dialogue, using slang, cursing, and/or burying the lede. Just do your best to fit the story into a three-line poem of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively.

Try this one today...

"Why cereal box toys are making a comeback… Cereal giant WK Kellogg is reintroducing box toys in a bid to spoon up nostalgia and reignite interest in a declining category."
— Michael Brady, Food Dive, August 3 2026

To see one possible haiku, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of KEYSTONE is

A. PALATIAL: spacious and magnificent, as if belonging in a palace.
B. TANGENTIAL: only a tiny bit relevant, as if grazing the very edge.
C. COLLOQUIAL: common and casual, as if spoken among friends and families.

2. Pennsylvania is known as the Keystone State primarily because _____.

A. it is almost perfectly rectangular and crisscrossed by many rivers that enrich its soil and industries
B. it lay in the approximate middle of the original thirteen colonies and played an important role in creating and stabilizing the nation
C. it was the birthplace of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, which has benefitted cancer patients around the world

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
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How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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