bastille

[ba-steel; French bas-tee-yuh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bastille ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural bas·tilles [ba-steelz; French bas-tee-yuh] /bæˈstilz; French basˈti yə/.

(initial capital letter) a fortress in Paris, used as a prison, built in the 14th century and destroyed July 14, 1789.

any prison or jail, especially one conducted in a tyrannical way.

a fortified tower, as of a castle; a small fortress; citadel.

Also bas·tile

[ba-steel] /bæˈstil/.

Origin of bastille

1350–1400; Middle English bastile < Middle French, probably alteration of bastide bastide, with -ile (< Medieval Latin, Latin -īle noun suffix of place) replacing -ide; replacing Middle English bastel < Old French basstel, with -el similarly replacing -ide

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for bastille

penitentiary, lockup, cell, prison, confinement, jail, rampart, garrison, barrier, citadel, chamber, apartment, cage, cubicle, incarcerate, apprehend, detain, commit, hold, remand

Examples from the Web for bastille

Contemporary Examples of bastille

With a fine (if unnoticed) stroke of irony, the bill was signed into law on Bastille Day, July 4.
Snowden Deserves the Medal of Freedom, Not Prosecution
Jay Parini
June 8, 2014
Neither the Bastille nor the Beatles could inspire us to overhaul life itself.
Russell Brand: Not Quite a Messiah
James Poulos
October 28, 2013
The bloody effervescence of the Bastille gave way to Robespierre and then Napoleon; Stalin crushed Trotsky.
You Say You Want a Revolution?
Christopher Dickey
June 23, 2013
Witness a brown cardboard sign held high on Sunday night at the Bastille.
Francois Hollande: France’s Anti-Sarkozy President
Tracy McNicoll
May 7, 2012
Anyone hoping to learn what Bastille Day is all about would do well to start here.
Vive la France!
Andrew Carter
July 14, 2011

Historical Examples of bastille

This Bouquet is a rascal who will be more likely to end in the Bastille than I, who did but defend my own.
The Boy Life of Napoleon
Eugenie Foa
You did good service at the taking of the Bastille, citizen?
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
Inform the Tribunal of what you did that day within the Bastille, citizen.
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
This time Hathelin had not the honour of the Bastille; he was sent to some depot.
The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Complete
Madame La Marquise De Montespan
In the winter, for being second in a duel, he was sent to the Bastille.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete
Duc de Saint-Simon

British Dictionary definitions for bastille

Bastille

noun

a fortress in Paris, built in the 14th century: a prison until its destruction in 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution

Word Origin for Bastille

C14: from Old French bastile fortress, from Old Provençal bastida, from bastir to build, of Germanic origin; see baste 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bastille

Bastille

14c. Paris prison destroyed by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789, French, literally "fortress, tower" (see bastion).

bastille in Culture

Bastille

[(ba-steel)]

A prison in Paris where many political and other offenders were held and tortured until the time of the French Revolution. It was attacked by workers on July 14, 1789, during the revolution; the prisoners were released, and the building was later demolished.

Note

The anniversary of the attack, Bastille Day, is the most important national holiday in France.