Linchpin
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A pin inserted through holes at the end of an axle or shaft, so as to secure a wheel or shaft-mounted device.
"In ij camellis ferri vocatis lynspins emptis pro carectis iiijᵈ."
- 2 pin inserted through an axletree to hold a wheel on wordnet
- 3 A central cohesive source of stability and security; a person or thing that is critical to a system or organisation. figuratively
"What is difficult to appreciate, however, is the discrepancy between his statement to the 'Manchester Guardian' correspondent and his known abhorance for party politics, which is the lynchpin of modern democracy."
- 4 a central cohesive source of support and stability wordnet
- 1 To adopt as, or serve as, a central cohesive source of stability and security. ambitransitive
"The poems turn fear of individual death into an audit of the costs of an aristocratic status quo which is linchpinned by a monarchy indulging in paradigms of social redress that have become cosmetic, opportunities for self-display rather than genuine justice."
Example
More examples"The army is the linchpin of North Korean dictatorship."
Etymology
From Middle English lynspin, compound of lins (“axletree”) and pin, from Old English lynis (“lynchpin”), from Proto-West Germanic *lunis, from Proto-Germanic *lunaz – compare German Lünse and Dutch luns – from Proto-Indo-European. Possible further cognates are Welsh olwyn (“wheel”), Old Armenian ողն (ołn, “back; spine, backbone”) and Sanskrit आणि (āṇí, “lynchpin”). Figurative use attested from the mid-20th century.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.