bastion

[bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn]

noun

1. Fortification.,  a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.

2. a fortified place.

   Synonyms: citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress

3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..

   a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

bastion

/ ˈbæstɪən /

noun

1. a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall

2. any fortified place

3. a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc

   the last bastion of opposition

Other Word Forms

• bastionary adjective
• bastioned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bastion¹

1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí ( a ) bastion, originally, fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; baste ¹ ) + -one augmentative suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of bastion¹

C16: from French, from earlier bastillon bastion, from bastille _Bastille

Example Sentences

“We could see a blow dealt to the last bastion of consumers willing to spend with abandon: the affluent,” said Swonk.

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"The hijab is the first bastion of Iranian women's Islamic identity. If this bastion collapses, other cultural and heritage elements will gradually collapse in turn," the ultraconservative Kayhan daily warned on Thursday.

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The school has long been known as a progressive bastion.

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Taking away congressional representation from the party’s last remaining conservative bastions leaves the party even less relevant, he said.

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Aid became a bastion of paternalism or, as some came to see it, neocolonialism.

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Related Words

• bulwark 
• citadel 
• fortress 
• mainstay 
• stronghold