# bastion
## English
### Etymology

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

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈbæsti.ən/
* (US) IPA: /ˈbæsti.ən/, /ˈbæst͡ʃən/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (General Australian):(file)
* Homophone: Bastian

### Noun

bastion (plural bastions)
* (architecture) A projecting part of a rampart or other fortification.
** 1942, Emily Carr, “Beginnings”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:[…] Fort Camosun had swelled herself from being a little Hudson's Bay Fort, inside a stockade with bastions at the corners, into being the little town of Victoria, and the capital of British Columbia.
* A well-fortified position; a stronghold or citadel.
* (figuratively) A person, group, or thing, that strongly defends some principle.
    a bastion of hope
    the bastion of democracy
* Any large prominence; something that resembles a bastion in size and form.
** 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XV, page 24:[…] yonder cloud That rises upward always higher, ⁠And onward drags a labouring breast, ⁠And topples round the dreary west, A looming bastion fringed with fire.
** 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 32:It spread slowly up from the sea-rim, a welling upwards of pure white light, ghosting the beach with silver and drawing the grey bastions of sandstone out of formless space.

#### Derived terms

* bastioned
* bastion forest
* bastionlike
* tower bastion

#### Related terms

* bastille

#### Translations
### Verb

bastion (third-person singular simple present bastions, present participle bastioning, simple past and past participle bastioned)
* (transitive) To furnish with a bastion.

### Anagrams

* Bostian, obtains, stiboan

## Danish
### Etymology

Via French bastion, from Italian bastione.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [baˈsdjoˀn]

### Noun

bastion c (singular definite bastionen, plural indefinite bastioner)
* (military, architecture) bastion
** (figurative) bastion (something or someone that resists a certain influence)

#### Declension
### References

* “bastion” in Den Danske Ordbog

## Dutch
### Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French bastion.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˌbɑs.tiˈɔn/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: bas‧ti‧on
* Rhymes: -ɔn

### Noun

bastion n (plural bastions, diminutive bastionnetje n)
* bastion; a projecting part of a rampart
    Synonym: bolwerk

## Estonian
### Etymology

From German Bastion.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈb̥ɑsʲtio̯n/, [ˈb̥ɑsʲtʲio̯n]
* Rhymes: -ɑsʲtion
* Hyphenation: bas‧tion

### Noun

bastion (genitive bastioni, partitive bastioni or bastionit)
* bastion (originally a semi-circular, later polygonal defensive building that protrudes from the main rampart of the fortress)

#### Declension
### References

* bastion in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
* “bastion”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French bastion, from Old French bastille (“fortress”) or Italian bastione. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. .

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bas.tjɔ̃/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

bastion m (plural bastions)
* bastion
* stronghold

#### Descendants

* → Polish: bastion
* → Russian: бастион (bastion)
** → Bulgarian: бастион (bastion)
** → Georgian: ბასტიონი (basṭioni)

### Further reading

* “bastion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Anagrams

* snobait

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology

From Italian bastione, via French bastion.

### Noun

bastion m (definite singular bastionen, indefinite plural bastioner, definite plural bastionene)
* a bastion (part of a fortification; also figurative)

### References

* “bastion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

From Italian bastione, via French bastion.

### Noun

bastion m (definite singular bastionen, indefinite plural bastionar, definite plural bastionane)
* a bastion (part of a fortification; also figurative)

### References

* “bastion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

## Polish
### Etymology

Borrowed from French bastion, from Old French bastille.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbas.tjɔn/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -astjɔn
* Syllabification: bas‧tion

### Noun

bastion m inan (diminutive bastionik)
* (military) bastion, stronghold (place built to withstand attack)
* (figuratively) bastion, stronghold (place of domination by, or refuge or survival of, a particular group or idea)
    Synonym: szaniec
* (figuratively) bastion (person, group, or thing, that strongly defends some principle)

#### Derived terms

* bastionowy

### Further reading

* bastion in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
* bastion in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French bastion.

### Noun

bastion n (plural bastioane)
* stronghold

#### Declension
## Serbo-Croatian
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bastǐoːn/

### Noun

bastìōn m (Cyrillic spelling бастѝо̄н)
* bastion

#### Declension
### Further reading

* “bastion”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

## Swedish
### Noun

bastion c
* bastion; a projecting part of a rampart