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bastion

UK/ˈbæsti.ən/US/ˈbæsti.ən/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,528 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: bastions

A bastion is a stronghold, or a last defender of an idea. The last bastion, a bastion of tradition, a bastion against change.

The figurative use has taken over almost entirely, and it is usually faintly mocking, since a last bastion is losing. In fortification a bastion is the projecting corner of a wall, built so defenders could fire along the face.

Definitions of bastion

  1. 1nounbastionA stronghold, or a last defender of an idea.C1

    “The castle on the hill was the last bastion of the rebels.”

bastion is a stronghold.

Where it comes from

French bastion comes from Old French bastille, a fortress, from bastir, to build.

  1. French

    bastion

  2. English, today

    bastion

Built from

  • bastille · French — fortress

First attested in 1562. From French bastion, from Old French - bastille (“fortress”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

bastion in the wild

  • The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the flanks being able to protect the curtain wall and the adjacent bastions.

    Bastion

  • Flat Bastion is a bastion which projects southward from the Charles V Wall in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.

    Flat Bastion

  • The bastion and magazine within it are separately listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

    Flat Bastion

  • Flat Bastion Road extends through the bastion, just to the west of the magazine, south of which it becomes Gardiner's Road.

    Flat Bastion Magazine

  • Another curtain wall runs east from the bastion to the base of a precipice.

    South Bastion, Gibraltar

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the bastille family

battlementsbastionbattlement

bastion — used about once every 9,395 pages · #11,528 · point at the bar for the others