keynote

US/ˈkiːˌnoʊt/

nounB2+Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,762 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: keynotes

A keynote is the central theme, or the main speech at a conference. Give the keynote.

The musical sense came first, since a keynote is the note a piece is built on. A keynote speech sets the theme rather than reporting anything, which is why it opens the day.

Definitions of keynote

1nounkeynoteThe central theme, or the main speech at a conference.B2+
“The keynote lasted forty minutes and nobody remembered any of it.”

keynote is a theme.

Where it comes from

Key plus note, from the note that establishes the key of a piece of music.

From key + note.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

keynote in the wild

The range is a little more than two octaves and the common keynote is "D" major.
Vertical flute
Nicholas Ridley closed his keynote speech at that meeting by citing the "Ten Cannots" of William J.
Selsdon Group
A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme.
Keynote
The keynote establishes the framework for the following programme of events or convention agenda; frequently the role of keynote speaker will include that of convention moderator.
Keynote
Because most Apple product releases were first shown to the public at these keynotes, "Stevenotes" caused substantial swings in Apple's stock price.
Stevenote

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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