student asking question

Like a "cornerstone" and a "keystone," what does the suffix "-stone" mean?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"-Stone" is not really a recognizable or standard suffix, it just happens to be the ending of the two words here. My guess is this comes from the concept that stone is the foundation to many types of structures or buildings, so over time it came to represent the heart or basis of many things. This is why "cornerstone" and "keystone" both refer to an important quality or feature on which a particular thing depends or is based. Ex: The Queen is the cornerstone to the Commonwealth. Ex: What do you think is the cornerstone to modern society?

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