Definition of BASTIONS

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Bastion is constructed of etymological building blocks that are very similar to those of "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). The history of "bastion" can be traced through Middle French to the Old Italian verb bastire, which means "to build." "Bastille" descends from the Old Occitan verb "bastir," which also means "to build." "Bastir" and "bastire" are themselves of Germanic origin and akin to the Old High German word besten, meaning "to patch."

Examples of bastion in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Certainly, not every animated film that came out during this period was a bastion of excellence — hello to Pocahontas, a deeply confused movie about early American race relations. — Todd Vanderwerff, Vox, "Why do so many animated films have great stories? One secret: storyboarding.," 20 Nov. 2018 Palm Beach, Florida, a tiny island long heralded as a bastion of both the luxurious and the sophisticated, has become a recent hot spot for young interior designers. — Ariel Okin, Vogue, "Here’s Why Palm Beach Has Become a Destination for Young Interior Designers," 7 Dec. 2018 Gab’s founder and CEO, Andrew Torba, has portrayed his site as a bastion of free speech. — Michael Kunzelman, The Seattle Times, "Website used by suspect in synagogue massacre is back online," 7 Nov. 2018 Some locals were appalled; this is Orange County, after all, historically a bastion of Southern California conservatism, and with his long hair and wild beard, and always dressed in a red shirt and sandals, Larsen cut a provocative figure. — Sean Elder, Town & Country, "The War of The Grosses: Inside the Bitter Divorce Battle of the Laguna Beach "Bond King"," 22 Oct. 2018 Also on the ballot were 36 gubernatorial races and thousands of state legislative seats—bastions of power that will be crucial to the process of redrawing political lines after the 2020 census. — Janet Hook, WSJ, "Midterm Results Produce a Split Congress," 7 Nov. 2018 Rents are regulated at the rest of the units in the complex, long a middle-class bastion, under the terms of a deal hammered out in 2015, when Blackstone Property and Ivanhoe Cambridge bought the 1940s complex for $5.45 billion. — New York Times, "Cruising for Renters," 31 May 2018 Every year, the American Museum of Natural History transforms into a bastion of comedy . . . — Vogue, "Live in Snowy New York City, It’s Thursday Night at the American Museum of Natural History Gala," 16 Nov. 2018 Government bombardment of Idlib has dropped as of Tuesday after days of stepped up bombing campaign against the Syrian opposition's last bastion in the country. — Bassem Mroue And Jamey Keaten, Fox News, "UN says Syria's Idlib civilians should not be taken hostages," 12 Sep. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bastion.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for bastion

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

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