mainstay

English

Etymology

From main +‎ stay (“rope”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmeɪn.steɪ/

Noun

mainstay (plural mainstays)

1. A chief support.

   Agriculture is the mainstay of this country’s economy.

2. (nautical) A stabilising rope from the top of the mainmast to the bottom of the foremast.

Translations

a chief support

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 支柱 (cmn) (zhīzhù), 中流砥柱 (cmn) (zhōngliúdǐzhù)

• Dutch: hoofdpijler (nl), steunpilaar (nl)
• Estonian: tugisammas
• Finnish: tukipilari (figuratively)

• German: Stütze (de) f
• Portuguese: carro-chefe (pt) c
• Russian: оплот (ru) (oplót) m, опора (ru) (opóra) f, твердыня (ru) (tverdýnja) f
• Spanish: pilar (es) m

a stabilizing rope from the top of the mainmast to the bottom of the foremast

• Dutch: grootstag (nl) n
• Estonian: groottaak
• Finnish: isoharus

• German: Großtag (de) m
• Russian: грота-штаг (ru) (gróta-štág) m
• Spanish: estay mayor (es) m

Anagrams

• Mayanist, mayanist