bastion

noun

bas·​tion ˈbas-chən 

1

: a projecting part of a fortification

a bastion at each of the fort's five corners

2

: a fortified area or position

bombing island bastions

3

: stronghold sense 2

the last bastion of academic standards

—Amer. Scientist

bastioned

ˈbas-chənd 

adjective

Did you know?

Bastion is related to bastille (a word now used as a general term for a prison, but probably best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution). It comes from the Italian verb bastire, which means "to build."

Synonyms

• castle
• citadel
• fastness
• fort
• fortification
• fortress
• hold
• redoubt
• stronghold

Examples of bastion in a Sentence

the rebel army retreated to its bastion in the mountains to regroup

Recent Examples on the Web

Advertisement With the candidates in broad agreement over many issues, no one expects the outcome of the presidential vote to herald drastic change in this nation of 3.4 million people, long considered a model democracy and bastion of stability in the region. —Nayara Batschke and Isabel Debre, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2024

When Atay was five, the family moved to the capital city of Ankara; there, the boy was educated in the leading institutions of the Kemalist élite, bastions of rationality, efficiency, progress, and other eagerly adopted European values. —Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024

YouTube is one of the last major bastions of free expression on the Russian internet, where the site continues to host materials by Kremlin opponents that have been largely removed from other social media sites popular in Russia. —Reuters, NBC News, 8 Aug. 2024

Doyle Campground Guided fishing: Bighorn River Outfitters Wyoming is the last bastion of the West, where bold, independent and curious spirits are encouraged to forge their own way to adventure both big and small. —Outside Online, 5 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, borrowed from Italian bastione, from bastia "small quadrangular fortress" (from an Upper Italian counterpart to Tuscan bastita, from feminine past participle of bastire "to build," probably borrowed from Old Occitan bastir "to weave, build," or its Gallo-Romance ancestor) + -one, augmentative suffix (going back to Latin -ō, -ōn-, suffix of nouns denoting persons with a prominent feature) — more at bastille

First Known Use

1546, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

bastion

noun

bas·​tion ˈbas-chən 

: some place or something that gives protection against attack

a bastion of democracy