bastion

American  

[bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn] / ˈbæs tʃən, -ti ən /

noun

• bastions
  plural

1. Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.

2. a fortified place.

   Synonyms:

   citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress

3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..

   a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

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bastion British  

/ ˈbæstɪən /

noun

1. a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall

2. any fortified place

3. a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc

   the last bastion of opposition

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• bastionary
  adjective
• bastioned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• bastions
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of bastion

1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí ( a ) bastion, originally, fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; see baste ¹) + -one augmentative suffix

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Explanation

When the battle is getting long and the odds are getting longer, retreat to your bastion to regroup and prepare for the next round of fighting. A bastion is a stronghold or fortification that remains intact. French Independence Day, or Bastille Day (July 14), commemorates the storming in 1789 of the French king's prison/fort, the Bastille. Bastion and Bastille share the root bast, which means "build." Bastion can refer to any place to which one turns for safety; that can include not only buildings but also concepts, ideas, and even beliefs. The Church, for example, is a bastion of many religious beliefs.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bastion bastions

Home prices in America have changed dramatically over the last century — but the Midwest has remained a bastion of affordability through it all.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 22, 2026

This is Liverpool, the supposed bastion of stability.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

On Monday it won a sweeping victory in state elections in West Bengal, India’s fourth most populous state, long regarded as an opposition bastion beyond the BJP’s grasp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026

From 1983 to 1995, High Performance was published by Astro Artz, renamed 18th Street Arts Center in 1990, and a bastion of performance art to this day.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2026

Sir Peter had stood all of one night on the bastion directing and encouraging the men.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

This is not to say that fraternities are all bastions of abuse and vice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Leo's predecessor Francis largely overlooked many of Europe's traditional bastions of Catholicism where, like Spain, religious observance has been falling rapidly.

From Barron's ● Jun. 6, 2026

With record-keeping fees under pressure, he said in an interview that managed accounts are “one of the last bastions of good revenue production,” adding that record-keepers “love” participants enrolling because “the revenue is much better.”

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 20, 2026

And to build up new trees next to older ones, so that wildlife can flow "from these ancient bastions into the new woods and hedges and individual trees that we're planting".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2025

Very strong it might be, wrought of steel and iron, and guarded with towers and bastions of indomitable stone, yet it was the key, the weakest point in all that high and impenetrable wall.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Related Words

• bulwark
• citadel
• fortress
• mainstay
• stronghold

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