CORNERSTONE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Cornerstone

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/kˈɔrnərstˌoʊn/ Listen

Cornerstone

noun

The fundamental assumptions from which something is begun or developed or calculated or explained. Synonyms: base, basis, foundation, fundament, groundwork.

A stone in the exterior of a large and important building; usually carved with a date and laid with appropriate ceremonies.

A stone at the outer corner of two intersecting masonry walls.

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Etymology of 'Cornerstone'

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"Cornerstone" Quotes from Famous Books

... with the Medical College of the London Mission, above referred to, and a high school of the United States Presbyterians, have formed a system of coeoperation which greatly augments the efficiency of each. Of this educational union the chief cornerstone is the Medical College. ...

— The Awakening of China • W.A.P. Martin

... are uneventful, unilluminated by talent, charm, or conspicuous service, and who, as individuals at least, it might appear, could well be spared without impairing the progress of the human race. And yet this doctrine of the worth of all is the cornerstone of our democracy. Upon it rests the principle of the equal rights of even the humblest before the law, the equal right of all to participate in the government. It is also the cornerstone of all private morality; ...

— The Essentials of Spirituality • Felix Adler

... kind of ideas, the right attitude toward his work, and all the hardship becomes blessedness and the suffering glory. His best payment then will be the satisfaction of carrying his stone to the great temple of human progress, even though it may not be a cornerstone. ...

— Psychology and Social Sanity • Hugo Muensterberg