bastion
/ˈbæsti.ən/ noun, verb
Forms bastions bastioning bastioned
- noun (architecture) A projecting part of a rampart or other fortification.
- noun A well-fortified position; a stronghold or citadel.
- noun (figuratively) A person, group, or thing, that strongly defends some principle. “a bastion of hope”
- noun Any large prominence; something that resembles a bastion in size and form.
- verb (transitive) To furnish with a bastion.
Synonyms
Etymology
First attested in 1562. From French bastion, from Old French bastille (“fortress”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A work projecting outward from the main inclosure of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is called the gorge. A lunette is a detached bastion. See Ravelin.
Etymology [F. bastion (cf. It. bastione), fr. LL. bastire to build (cf. F. b, It. bastire), perh. from the idea of support for a weight, and akin to Gr. to lift, carry, and to E. baston, baton.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bastion”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details