Pivotal means so central that everything turns on it. A pivotal moment, a pivotal role, pivotal to the outcome.
It is stronger than important: a pivotal thing is the point of change, and without it the rest goes differently. It is overused in reporting, where every moment is pivotal. Note pivot, the fixed point something turns about, which is exactly the image.
1adjectivepivotalSo central that everything turns on it.
“Her goal in the final minute proved pivotal in winning the championship.”
synonyms: crucial, decisive
pivotal is a quality of centrality.
Old French
pivot — hinge pin, pivot
Middle English
pevet
English
pivot
English, today
pivotal
From pivot + -al. pivot comes from Middle English pevet, pivot, from Old French pivot (“hinge pin, pivot”) (12th c.), possibly from pūgiō.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA