Lodestar.

It's a word you've probably never uttered in casual — or even formal — conversation.

But for internet sleuths picking apart every syllable of the White House-rocking, anonymous New York Times op-ed, it was the tether that allowed them to connect the essay to Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence's camp has come forward to say nope, not him. But that hasn't stopped everyone from late night talk show hosts to Twitter meme-makers from pinning the piece on Pence.

So what is an op-ed? Here's the difference between an op-ed and an editorial

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Here's what we know about "lodestar" and the vice president's unique connection to it:

What does lodestar mean?

Here's how the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it:

archaic: a star that leads or guides; especially: north star one that serves as an inspiration, model, or guide

And here are the dictionary's provided examples of how the word can be used:

The idea of public service has been a lodestar for her throughout her life. A society seemingly with unbridled greed as its only lodestar.

So in layman's terms, lodestar is used to describe a guiding individual or principle.

How was lodestar used in the NYT op-ed?

The author used it to describe late Sen. John McCain. The author wrote: "Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.

"We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them."

How has Pence used lodestar in the past?

Lodestar searches were fast and furious after the NYT piece published. Journalist Dan Bloom posted a Twitter thread of Pence speeches when he used the word between 2011 and 2018.

Twitter user Prufrock451 responded to the thread with an example of Pence using the word in 2001 and multiple times after that in both scripted and unscripted addresses.

BuzzFeed reporter and editor David Mack shared a video showing Pence using the word in a number of different situations.

How has Pence responded to the op-ed whodunit?

Swiftly — and with a very strong denial.

On Thursday morning, Pence's Chief Deputy of Staff and Communications Director Jarrod Agen tweeted that Pence had nothing to do with the op-ed.

"The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds," Agen tweeted. "The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts."

The "gutless" label was also used by President Trump when he tweeted his response to the op-ed.

"Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!" Trump tweeted Wednesday night.

It's not Dan Coats, either

Shortly after the Pence denial, Director of National Intelligence and fellow Hoosier Dan Coats released the following statement denying claims he was behind it:

"Speculation that The New York Times op-ed was written by me or my Principal Deputy is patently false. We did not. From the beginning of our tenure, we have insisted that the entire IC remain focused on our mission to provide the President and policymaker with the best intelligence possible."

So who else could it be?

A lot of people, if the "senior official in the Trump administration" byline, the name attributed to the article, is true. The White House website says 1,800 people currently work in the Executive Office of the President.

As far as the "senior" portion of the title, that is a little trickier. Marc Lotter, Pence's former press secretary and former special assistant to the president, explained during an MSNBC interview Thursday that more context is needed to determine to what senior it refers.

"We don't know the rank and the title and the position that this person holds. And I'll include myself in this as well," Lotter told host Chuck Todd. "While my position while I was at the White House — special assistant to the president — sounds very senior, there are a lot of meetings that took place at a lot higher levels than I was. So we don't have that context to be able to fill out how this person might think."

What does the op-ed reveal about the author?

That the person's job could be at stake by writing this. Here's a portion of the editor's note:

"The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure."

Another reason that many quickly remove Pence's name from the list of possible authors is that the vice president cannot be fired by the president during their term.

Wait, haven't I heard 'lodestar' somewhere else recently?

You have, and that somewhere was the memorial service for John McCain.

While speaking at the funeral, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said of McCain, “Honor was John’s lodestar. It was his way of life.”

USA Today contributed to this story. Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at 317-444-6138. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.

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