Linchpin Definition
linchpin
linchpins
noun
linchpins
A pin that goes through the end of an axle outside the wheel to keep the wheel from coming off.
Webster's New World
Anything or anyone regarded as crucial or essential.
Webster's New World
A central cohesive element.
Reduced spending is the linchpin of their economic program.
American Heritage
Other Word Forms of Linchpin
Noun
Singular:
linchpin
Plural:
linchpinsOrigin of Linchpin
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Middle English lynspin, compound of lins 'axletree' and pin, from Old English lynis 'linchpin', from Proto-Germanic *luniso (compare German Lünse), from Proto-Indo-European (compare Welsh olwyn (“wheel"), Old Armenian Õ¸Õ²Õ¶ (oÅ‚n, “back; spine, backbone"), Sanskrit [script?] (āṇís)). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
From Wiktionary
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Middle English linspin lins linchpin (from Old English lynis) pin pin (from Old English pinn pin)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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