bastion

American  

[bas-chuhn, -tee-uhn] / ˈbæs tʃən, -ti ən /

noun

1. Fortification. a projecting portion of a rampart or fortification that forms an irregular pentagon attached at the base to the main work.

2. a fortified place.

   Synonyms:

   citadel, stronghold, bulwark, fort, fortress

3. anything seen as preserving or protecting some quality, condition, etc..

   a bastion of solitude; a bastion of democracy.

---

bastion British  

/ ˈbæstɪən /

noun

1. a projecting work in a fortification designed to permit fire to the flanks along the face of the wall

2. any fortified place

3. a thing or person regarded as upholding or defending an attitude, principle, etc

   the last bastion of opposition

---

Other Word Forms

• bastionary adjective
• bastioned adjective

Etymology

Origin of bastion

1590–1600; < Middle French < Italian bastione, equivalent to Upper Italian bastí ( a ) bastion, originally, fortified, built (cognate with Italian bastita, past participle of bastire to build < Germanic; baste ¹ ) + -one augmentative suffix

Example Sentences

These new technologies offered them a bastion of free speech and a global platform.

From Salon

“We could see a blow dealt to the last bastion of consumers willing to spend with abandon: the affluent,” said Swonk.

From Barron's

The school has long been known as a progressive bastion.

From The Wall Street Journal

Aid became a bastion of paternalism or, as some came to see it, neocolonialism.

From The Wall Street Journal

Yet many of his strongest bastions of support lie in central Brooklyn, according to voting and donation records.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bulwark
• citadel
• fortress
• mainstay
• stronghold