bastion

[bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bastion ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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

a fortified place.

anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc.: a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

Origin of bastion

1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí(a) bastion, orig., fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; see baste¹) + -one augmentative suffix

Related formsbas·tion·ar·y

[bas-chuh-ner-ee] /ˈbæs tʃəˌnɛr i/, adjectivebas·tioned, adjective

Synonyms for bastion

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR bastion ON THESAURUS.COM

2. fortress, fort, bulwark, stronghold, citadel.

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

Related Words for bastion

stronghold, mainstay, citadel, fortress, bulwark, parapet, protection, fortification, support, prop, defense, rock, breastwork

Examples from the Web for bastion

Contemporary Examples of bastion

The tweets linking to the National Review, that bastion of LGBT equality.
How Canadian Oilmen Pinkwash the Keystone Pipeline
Jay Michaelson
December 28, 2014
But that was not to be, and Kansas will continue as a Republican bastion for the foreseeable future.
Kansas Republicans Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback Lifted by Rising Tide
Ben Jacobs
November 5, 2014
Fairfax County, the most populous jurisdiction in the state, was once a Republican bastion.
Virginia Election: 5 Things to Watch Tuesday
Ben Jacobs
November 5, 2013
Kentucky, a bastion of anti-government ire, is the top state for Obamacare enrollment.
Obamacare Is Winning in Kentucky, Thanks to Steve Beshear
Jonathan Miller
October 17, 2013
Kaine could be boosted by his subcommittee, a bastion of support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
How Tim Kaine Can Boost the Peace Process
Rachel Cohen
July 31, 2013

Historical Examples of bastion

We sat in a corner of the bastion, so that we could see everything on both sides.
A Hero of Our Time
M. Y. Lermontov
It was a flat mesa rising sharply as a sort of bastion from the rim-rock.
Oh, You Tex!
William Macleod Raine
We go out by an entrance on to a bastion, flanking the gate.
At the Point of the Bayonet
G. A. Henty
Continuing along the bastion the limit of the northern wall is soon reached.
Exeter
Sidney Heath
Captain Neville, into the battery, and fire twenty rounds at the bastion!
White Lies
Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for bastion

bastion

noun

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

any fortified place

a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etcthe last bastion of opposition

Word Origin for bastion

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

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 bastion

1560s, from Middle French bastillon, diminutive of Old French bastille "fortress, tower, fortified, building," from Old Provençal bastir "build," perhaps originally "make with bast" (see baste (v.1)).