bastion English · revision 1929

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbæsti.ən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbæsti.ən/, /ˈbæst͡ʃən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|bastion]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a variant of ''bastillon'', diminutive of ''bastille'' “fortress”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster see the influence of Italian ''bastione'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate) augmentative of ''bastia'' “fortress”, from ''bastire'' “to build”,^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) a word of Germanic origin.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Etymonline instead traces it to Old Provençal ''bastir'' “to build”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A projecting part of a fortification (1562 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, 1598 in the OED).^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is a term of military architecture, for an earthwork or mass of masonry projecting from a rampart.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) It came to be used figuratively, for any defence or rampart (1679),^(OED 1989) and so for anything that strongly preserves or defends a quality or principle, as in “a bastion of democracy”.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1562 – a projecting part of a fortification (Barnhart, Merriam-Webster).^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1590–1600 – Random House's dating.^(RHWU)

+ * 1679 – figurative, a defence.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A projecting part of a [[fortification]] or [[rampart]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A well-fortified position; a [[stronghold]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something that strongly preserves or defends a quality, principle or way of life.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bastioned]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bastille]]

+ * [[baste]]

+ * [[fortress]]

+ * [[bulwark]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}