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

Douglas County is trying to do something no other Colorado county has done in nearly 50 years — adopt home-rule authority that would give the conservative bastion south of Denver more autonomy and powers of self-governance. —John Aguilar, Denver Post, 8 June 2025

The Federalist Society has become a bastion of that project, with Leo serving as its longtime former executive vice president. —Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 4 June 2025

Drastic political changes have created an increasingly restricted environment for them in the semiautonomous Chinese city once regarded as a bastion of press freedom in Asia. —Kanis Leung, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2025

That’s a fair point, although the conservative City Council—known for its headline-grabbing MAGA antics—is hardly a bastion of apolitical governance. —The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 29 May 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