Etymology

mainstay

M3A1I1N1S1T1A1Y4

Today it means: A chief support. Full definition →

Middle English main stai
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The story

  1. Middle English · inherited frommain stai
  2. English todaymainstay

From Middle English main stai, equivalent to main + stay (“rope”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.