keystone
/ˈkiː.stəʊn/noun, verb
keystone is spelled K-E-Y-S-T-O-N-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, keystone means “The top stone of an arch” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of keystone is keystones.
How many letters and syllables are in keystone?
| Letters | 8: K-E-Y-S-T-O-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,005th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is keystone?
Keystone appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,005th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce keystone?
- /ˈkiː.stəʊn/
Keystone has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-keystone.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of keystone
- keystones plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- keystoning participle, present
- keystoned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does keystone mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The top stone of an arch.
- 2
Something on which other things depend for support.
- 3
A retail price that is double the cost price; a markup of 100%.
- 4
The combination of the shortstop and second baseman.
verb
- 1
To distort (an image) by projecting it onto a surface at an angle, which for example causes a square to look like a trapezoid.
- 2
To double the cost price in order to determine the retail price; to apply a markup of 100%.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Keystone in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the top stone of an arch:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | clef de voûte, clé de voute, clef d'arc, clé d'arc, claveau |
| German | Schlussstein, Scheitelstein |
| Portuguese | pedra angular |
| Spanish | clave, dovela |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does keystone come from?
From key + stone. Definition 4 (retail) possibly originated in the jewelry industry in the magazine called "Jewelers' Circular-Keystone".
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).