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

In other words, could the question at the outset of the novel be applied today to the United States—a bastion of democratic strength being ripped apart by an erratic tyrant? Years ago, in one of his lucid columns, Vargas Llosa described the election of Donald Trump as a form of national suicide. —Ilan Stavans, The Atlantic, 15 Apr. 2025

The presentation was in response to the more-than-rumors that The Rock — once a rite of passage in the sport of racing, a bastion of small-town Americana and NASCAR — was going to be removed from the NASCAR schedule. —Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 13 Apr. 2025

The city was known as a bastion of some of the earliest and fiercest resistance against the Assad regime. —Jawad Rizkallah, NPR, 5 Mar. 2025

In recent years, Gov. Ron DeSantis has helped install political allies at the helm of public colleges and universities in an effort to remake Florida’ higher-education into a bastion of conservatism. —Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 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

Kids Definition

bastion

noun

bas·​tion ˈbas-chən 

: some place or something that gives protection against attack

a bastion of democracy