kingpin

Etymology

It is formed from English king + pin,^[2][3][4][5] with king in the sense "chief".^[3] For the bolt sense the OED compares the earlier kingbolt,^[2] which Etymonline dates to 1792.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The tallest, usually central pin in skittles and similar games: 1773, in A. Jones's Art of Playing at Skittles.^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster Unabridged date it to 1801, Etymonline as the large pin in the game of kayles.^[3][6][7]

Semantic evolution

From the pin in skittles the word passed to machinery: from 1858 it was a main bolt in a central position, especially a vertical bolt serving as the pivot of an axle.^[2] Figuratively, from 1861, it meant a person or thing central to a system, especially the most important person in an organisation.^[2] Etymonline thinks this sense, which it dates to 1867, may come from the bolt rather than the skittle.^[3] Green's Dictionary of Slang, which has a figurative example from 1865, finds it in the United States in the late 19th century, in Australia in the early 20th and in Britain from the 1950s, and as an adjective, "most important", from 1905.^[8] It is often used of the leaders of criminal gangs and drug trades.^[8][6]

Timeline

• 1773 – the tallest, central pin in skittles.^[2]
• 1858 – a main bolt used as a pivot, as in an axle.^[2]
• 1861 – figurative, the central or most important person or thing.^[2]
• 1905 – adjective, most important or central.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. The most important person in an organisation or activity, often a criminal one: a drug kingpin.^[9][6][8]
2. The most important element of a theory, argument or system.^[9][6]
3. A pivot pin or bolt that forms the steering joint of a vehicle, linking the stub axle to the axle beam; a kingbolt.^[9][6][2]
4. In bowling, the headpin or the number 5 pin; in skittles, the central or tallest pin.^[9][6][2]

Related words

• king
• pin
• kingbolt

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
9. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins