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 today usually refers to a metaphorical fortress, a place where an idea, ethos, philosophy, culture, etc. is in some way protected and able to endure. But its oldest meaning concerned literal fortifications and strongholds. Bastion likely traces back to a verb, bastir, meaning “to build or weave,” from Old Occitan, a Romance language spoken in southern France from about 1100 to 1500. Bastir eventually led to bastia, an Italian word for a small quadrangular fortress, and from there bastione, referring to a part of a fortified structure—such as an outer wall—that juts or projects outward. Bastione became bastion in Middle French before entering English with the same meaning. You may be familiar with another bastir descendent, bastille, which refers generically to a prison or jail, but is best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution; the Bastille’s fall is commemorated in France by the national holiday Bastille Day.

Synonyms

• stronghold
• fortress
• citadel
• fortification
• castle

Examples of bastion in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Budapest, Hungary Cradled by the Danube’s curves, Budapest is a city where medieval bastions meet Ottoman bathhouses steaming beside Bauhaus blocks. —Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

The Republican president has repeatedly criticized both Washington and Chicago — Democratic bastions led by Black mayors — for out-of-control street crime, despite crime rates dropping in the two cities. —Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025

But the restaurant bastion of our summertime dreams remain. —Kat Robinson River Valley Eats, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2025

In 1899, the southern part of Los Angeles County seceded into a new entity, Orange County, which would develop into a bastion of conservatism through the twentieth century. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 31 Aug. 2025

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