different between bastion vs fastness

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?bæsti.?n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?bæsti.?n/, /?bæst??n/
• ,
• Homophone: Bastian

Noun

bastion (plural bastions)

1. (architecture) A projecting part of a rampart or other fortification.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, "Beginnings," [1]

     […] 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.

2. A well-fortified position; a stronghold or citadel.
3. (figuratively) A person, group, or thing, that strongly defends some principle.

Related terms

• bastille
• bastioned

Translations

Verb

bastion (third-person singular simple present bastions, present participle bastioning, simple past and past participle bastioned)

1. (transitive) To furnish with a bastion.

Anagrams

• Bostian, obtains, stiboan

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French bastion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?s.ti??n/
• Hyphenation: bas?ti?on
• Rhymes: -?n

Noun

bastion n (plural bastions, diminutive bastionnetje n)

1. bastion; a projecting part of a rampart

   Synonym: bolwerk

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bas.tj??/

Noun

bastion m (plural bastions)

1. bastion
2. stronghold

Descendants

• ? Polish: bastion

Further reading

• “bastion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• snobait

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Italian bastione, via French bastion

Noun

bastion m (definite singular bastionen, indefinite plural bastioner, definite plural bastionene)

1. 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)

1. a bastion (part of a fortification; also figurative)

References

• “bastion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From French bastion, from Old French bastille (“fortress”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ba.stj?n/

Noun

bastion m inan (diminutive bastionik)

1. (architecture) bastion, stronghold (place built to withstand attack)
2. (figuratively) stronghold (place of domination by, or refuge or survival of, a particular group or idea)

Declension

Derived terms

• (adjective) bastionowy

Further reading

• bastion in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• bastion in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

From French bastion

Noun

bastion n (plural bastioane)

1. stronghold

Declension

Swedish

Noun

bastion c

1. bastion; a projecting part of a rampart

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English fastnesse, festnesse (“firmness; certainty; stronghold; firmament”), from Old English fæstnes, fæstnis (“firmness; stronghold; firmament”), equivalent to fast +? -ness.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fæstn?s/, [?fæsn?s]
• (trap–bath split) IPA^(key): /?f??stn?s/, [?f??sn?s]

Noun

fastness (countable and uncountable, plural fastnesses)

1. A secure or fortified place; a stronghold, a fortress.
   • 1611, John Speed, The History of Great Britaine under the Conquests of the Romans, Saxons, Danes and Normans, London, Book 9, Chapter 9, p. 528,^[1]

     [...] if the Welsh compelled by famine ventred out of their strengthes or fastnesses, in or about Snowdon, the Garrison Souldiers of Gannocke were ready to intercept and kill them [...]

   • 1803, John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” in Robert Charles Dallas, The History of the Maroons, London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, p. xxxviii,^[2]

     [...] the slaves that yet remained in the fastnesses of Jamaica, attached to the Spanish, and hostile to the English settlers, continued to be troublesome, and at times formidable.
2. The state of being fast.
   1. Firmness, security.
   2. Rapidity, swiftness.
3. The ability of a dye to withstand fading.

Derived terms

• colorfastness
• colour fastness, colourfastness

Translations

References

• “fastness”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.