bastille
[ ba-steel; French bas-tee-yuh ]
/ bæˈstil; French basˈti yə /
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.
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What’s A Bastille?On Bastille Day, the world parties in the name of France. But do you know what makes Bastille Day so important—not just for France but the history of all democracies? The occasion is typically honored with military parades and copious consumption of libations. This mix of weapons and wooziness arguably sums up the legacy of July 14, 1789. Bastille is French for “fortress,” “castle,” or “bastion.” The Bastille …
RELATED WORDS
penitentiary, lockup, cell, prison, confinement, jail, rampart, garrison, barrier, citadel, chamber, apartment, cage, cubicle, incarcerate, apprehend, detain, commit, hold, remand
Nearby words
- bastia,
- bastian,
- bastian, adolf,
- bastide,
- bastile,
- bastille day,
- bastinade,
- bastinado,
- basting,
- bastion
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
Examples from the Web for bastille
Bastille
/ (bæˈstiːl, French bastij) /
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
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.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.