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

Humphrey hoped to stop Kennedy in West Virginia, overwhelmingly Protestant and a labor bastion. — Edward Kosner, WSJ, "‘Hubert Humphrey’ Review: The Man From Minnesota," 31 Aug. 2018 The companies with the deep pockets to play the influence game and the profit margins to survive burdens that would crush smaller competitors are no bastions of libertarian thought. — Chris Stirewalt, Fox News, "No, free market conservatives are not becoming Dems," 31 July 2018 Center back Diego Godin, 31, along with Cavani, 30, and Suarez, 30, remain as the bastions of the squad, but midfielders Federico Valverde, 19, and Nahitan Nandez, 21, have garnered some prominence. — José Luis Sánchez Pando, chicagotribune.com, "2018 World Cup Group A preview: Watch out for 'The Pharaohs'," 22 May 2018 But even in swinging London there are bastions of resistance, like the closed drawing rooms of the traditional gentlemen’s clubs, for those who enjoy reading the Daily Telegraph while taking their morning tea. — Janine Di Giovanni, Town & Country, "Is Brexit Ruining London Dinner Parties?," 25 Feb. 2019 As universities go, Arizona State hardly appears to be a liberal bastion. — Stephanie Saul, New York Times, "Arizona Republicans Inject Schools of Conservative Thought Into State Universities," 26 Feb. 2018 Over the weekend, Democrats completed their sweep of Southern California’s longtime conservative bastion of Orange County, putting their House majority at 232 to 198, for a net gain of 37 seats, with five races still uncalled. — Andrew Duehren, WSJ, "Republican Rick Scott Wins Senate Race in Florida," 18 Nov. 2018 Ince’s rally in the coastal city of Izmir, a bastion of secularism, drew hundreds of thousands Thursday. — Washington Post, "Turkey heads to landmark presidential, parliamentary vote," 22 June 2018 But his policies are a tougher sell even in this bastion of granola leftism. — James Freeman, WSJ, "Has Vermont Had It with Bernienomics?," 21 Feb. 2019

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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