bastille

noun

bas·​tille ba-ˈstēl How to pronounce bastille (audio)

Examples of bastille in a Sentence

were amazed by the squalid, cramped quarters in the town's historic bastille
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For his part, Bowie celebrated the election by joining forces with John Barleycorn and evicting the residents of the local bastille. Robert Kolarik, San Antonio Express-News, 23 Feb. 2018 In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined. Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017 In these wet, wooden bastilles in New York waters, more Americans died than in all the battles of the Revolutionary War combined. Benedict Cosgrove, Smithsonian, 13 Mar. 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, after the Bastille St. Antoine, fortress built at an eastern gate of Paris in the later 14th century (used as a prison and destroyed in 1789), from Middle French bassetille, bastille "fortress, fortification," alteration (by substitution of the suffix -ille, usually diminutive, going back to Latin -īcula) of bastide, borrowed from Old Occitan bastida "building, fortification," noun derivative from feminine past participle of bastir "to weave, build, construct," going back to Old Low Franconian *bastjan "to weave with bast strips" — more at baste entry 1

First Known Use

1663, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bastille was in 1663

Dictionary Entries Near bastille

Cite this Entry

“Bastille.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bastille. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.

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