Bastion is related to bastille (a word now used as a general term for a prison, but probably best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution). It comes from the Italian verb bastire, which means "to build."
the rebel army retreated to its bastion in the mountains to regroup
Recent Examples on the WebRussian troops were forced to flee the strategic city of Izium -- their main bastion in northeastern Ukraine -- on Saturday after a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive. Nectar Gan, Shawn Deng And Philip Wang, CNN, 12 Sep. 2022 To be fair, Yale has not been a bastion of free speech. Lauren Noble, National Review, 14 Aug. 2022 The institute is a cultural bastion founded in 1854 and houses a library, literary events and the Chess Room, which is the oldest continuously operating chess club in the nation. Chase Difeliciantonio, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Aug. 2022 As supporters of Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic candidate for Texas governor, emerged from a crowded campaign event in a quaint, conservative bastion north of Dallas, Treva Sanges was there to protest them.New York Times, 19 Aug. 2022 Alixx Robin Lucas, who lives near the shooting scene, said the incident jolted the Leimert Park neighborhood, long considered a cultural hub for Black culture and a bastion of anti-police-violence activism. Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2022 At stake are the fortunes of a bastion of relative stability and prosperity just as some of Kenya’s neighbors, including Ethiopia and Somalia, are embroiled in conflicts and economic turmoil. Michael M. Phillips, WSJ, 2 Aug. 2022 On a sticky and stormy Saturday night, two of the world’s most recognizable soccer powers invaded Lambeau Field, a bastion of American football like no other. Robert Zizzo, Journal Sentinel, 24 July 2022 The state is known for being a conservative bastion, due at least in part to attention brought on by both former Vice President Pence and RFRA. Kaitlin Lange, The Indianapolis Star, 22 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from Middle French, borrowed from Italian bastione, from bastia "small quadrangular fortress" (from an Upper Italian counterpart to Tuscan bastita, from feminine past participle of bastire "to build," probably borrowed from Old Occitan bastir "to weave, build," or its Gallo-Romance ancestor) + -one, augmentative suffix (going back to Latin -ō, -ōn-, suffix of nouns denoting persons with a prominent feature) — more at bastille