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bastide

American  
[ba-steed] / bæˈstid /

noun

  1. a medieval fortified town, planned as a whole and built at one time, especially in southern France, for strategic or commercial purposes.

  2. a small country house in southern France.


Etymology

Origin of bastide

1515–25; < Middle French < Old Provençal bastida fortification, noun use of feminine past participle of bastir to build, equivalent to basti- (< Germanic; see baste 1) + -da < Latin -ta feminine past participle suffix


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Chromate of iron, near Gassin, in the department of Le Var, at the bastide of the cascade.

From Paris as It Was and as It Is by Francis W. Blagdon

The name Castelsarrasin appears in the 13th century, when the village of Villelongue was replaced by the present bastide.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 4 "Carnegie Andrew" to "Casus Belli" by Various

Looking from the Chateau de Notre Dame de la Garde, it would seem as if there was a bastide for every arpent.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph

I was up with them through every night at this time; and it was an odd life in the little desolate bastide, as it was long impossible to procure help.

From Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 by Augustus J. C. Hare

Cordes, which covers the summit and slopes of an isolated hill, was a bastide founded by Raymond VII., count of Toulouse, in the first half of the 13th century.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 4 "Coquelin" to "Costume" by Various

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