PILLAR

I. noun Etymology: Middle English piler, from Anglo-French, from Medieval Latin pilare, from Latin pila Date: 13th century 1. a firm upright support for a superstructure ; post , a usually ornamental column or shaft, 2. a supporting, integral, or upstanding member or part , a fundamental precept , a solid mass of coal, rock, or ore left standing to support a mine roof, a body part that resembles a column, ~less adjective II. transitive verb Date: 1607 to provide or strengthen with or as if with ~s