cornerstone

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The most important part of something, on which everything else depends.

   Exceptional service is the cornerstone of the hospitality industry.

2. 2
   noun

   A stone at the base corner of a building, often laid in a ceremony with a date inscribed on it.

   The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1890.

From Middle English corner ston; equivalent to corner + stone. The figurative sense is in part after Psalm 118:22, and is also quoted several times in the New Testament.

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