pillar

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pillar/ˈpɪlə(r)/

▶noun

• 1 a tall vertical structure, usually of stone, used as a support for a building or as an ornament or monument.

• 2 a person or thing providing reliable support: he was a pillar of his local community.

– phrases
from pillar to post from one place to another in an unceremonious or fruitless manner.

– derivatives
pillared adjective,
pillaret noun.

– origin ME: from Anglo-Norman Fr. piler, based on L. pila ‘pillar’.