mainstay

Compared meaning: an important supporting person or thing (noun).

比较义项：重要的支撑者、支柱（名词）。

• pillar

  Highlights being one of several steady, admired supports of a community, family, or organization; evokes the image of a strong supporting column.

  强调是社区、家庭或组织中众多稳固支撑力量之一，令人联想到坚实的支撑柱，带有受人尊敬的意味。

  Her grandfather was a respected pillar of the small fishing village for decades.

  她的祖父数十年来一直是这个小渔村里受人尊敬的支柱。

• mainstay 本词

  Refers to the single most essential support a system or activity depends on, often economic; usually singular and central rather than one of many.

  指某个体系或活动所依赖的最主要、最核心的那一个支撑，通常是唯一、居于中心地位的，而不是众多支撑之一。

  Fishing has long been the mainstay of this island's entire economy.

  长期以来，捕鱼业一直是这座岛屿整个经济的支柱。

Both describe someone who gives important support. Pillar suggests one of several admired supports of a community, like a column, not the literal building column. Mainstay is the single most essential support a system depends on, not the nautical rope that holds a mast.

这两个词都可以指“像柱子一样撑起某个整体的人或事物”，但语气不同：pillar强调是众多支撑力量之一，常用于赞美某人在社区、家庭中稳固可靠；mainstay则强调“最主要、不可或缺的那一个支撑”，常用于经济、生活或团队等系统。这里不比较pillar本义“建筑上的石柱、柱子”，也不比较mainstay在航海中“支索（固定主桅的绳索）”的意思。