bastille

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

/ bæˈstil; French basˈti yə /

SEE 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.

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Words nearby bastille

baster, basti, bastia, bastian, bastide, bastille, 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. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for 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|DAILY BEAST
Neither the Bastille nor the Beatles could inspire us to overhaul life itself.
Russell Brand: Not Quite a Messiah|James Poulos|October 28, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST

Anyone hoping to learn what Bastille Day is all about would do well to start here.
Vive la France!|Andrew Carter|July 14, 2011|DAILY BEAST
It is that I will hear nothing further from you till I am clear of the Bastille.
The Vicomte de Bragelonne|Alexandre Dumas
The Duke walks about on the top of the terrace at the Bastille, with his hair dressed, and in an embroidered coat.
The Memoirs of the Louis XIV. and The Regency, Complete|Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d'Orleans
At the Bastille they may know nothing of the existence of a Paul de Lorraine.
Helmet of Navarre|Bertha Runkle
No, abbe, it shall not be thus; they shall be married in the Bastille, and I shall be in the chapel where they cannot see me.
The Regent's Daughter|Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
Within the Bastille the invaders were, meanwhile, breaking open the dungeons.
Old and New Paris, v. 1|Henry Sutherland Edwards

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.