Metaword required

Solution 1:

Could this be a simple as term?

We need a new term to describe a word that succinctly sums things up?

Solution 2:

My suggestion is nom d'etre. I formed that as a combination of the following:

nom de pen — pen name

raison d'etre — reason for being

The idea is that it's a name for being or name for existence. Your sentence would be:

This new development is crying out for a nom d'etre.

For Hofstadter fans, this has the bonus of being self-referential. The phrase "nom d'etre" is its own nom d'etre.