Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bastille
{
Bas-tile′
Bas-tille′
}(bȧs-tēl′ or bȧs′tē̍l; 277)
, Noun.
[F.
bastille
fortress, OF. bastir
to build, F. bâtir
.] 1.
(Feud. Fort.)
A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.
The high
bastiles
. . . which overtopped the walls. Holland.
2.
“The Bastille”, formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.
Definition 2024
Bastille
Bastille
See also: bastille
English
Proper noun
Bastille
- A prison in France, the storming of which in 1789 CE began the French Revolution.
Translations
a prison in France
Derived terms
Related terms
Anagrams
bastille
bastille
See also: Bastille
English
Alternative forms
- bastile (obsolete)
Noun
bastille (plural bastilles)
- A castle tower, or fortified building; a small citadel or fortress.
- A prison or jail.
- 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, I.2:
- Thither arriv'd, th' advent'rous Knight / And bold Squire from their Steeds alight, / At th' outward Wall, near which there stands / A Bastile, built t' imprison Hands [...].
- 1663, Samuel Butler, Hudibras, I.2:
Translations
castle tower, or fortified building; small citadel or fortress
fortress — see fortress
citadel — see citadel
prison — see prison
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Late Latin bastilia, plural of bastile, from bastire (“to build”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bastij/
Noun
bastille f (plural bastilles)