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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Also bas·tile [ba-steel]. /bæˈstil/.
Origin of bastille
1350–1400; Middle English bastile<Middle French, probably alteration of bastidebastide, with -ile (<Medieval Latin, Latin -īle noun suffix of place) replacing -ide; replacing Middle English bastel<Old French basstel, with -el similarly replacing -ide
Words nearby bastille
bast fiber, basti, Bastia, Bastian, bastide, bastille, Bastille Day, bastinade, bastinado, basting, bastion
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
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British Dictionary definitions 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
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Cultural definitions for bastille
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.
notes for Bastille
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.