Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bastion
Bas′tion
(băs′chŭn; 106)
, Noun.
[F.
bastion
(cf. It. bastione
), fr. LL. bastire
to build (cf. F. bâtir
, It. bastire
), perh. from the idea of support for a weight, and akin to Gr. βαστάζειν
to lift, carry, and to E. baston
, baton
.] (Fort.)
A work projecting outward from the main inclosure of a fortification, consisting of two faces and two flanks, and so constructed that it is able to defend by a flanking fire the adjacent curtain, or wall which extends from one bastion to another. Two adjacent bastions are connected by the curtain, which joins the flank of one with the adjacent flank of the other. The distance between the flanks of a bastion is called the gorge. A lunette is a detached bastion. See
Ravelin
. Webster 1828 Edition
Bastion
BAS'TION
,Noun.
sods, sometimes with brick, or stones, standing out from a rampart, of which it is a principal part; formerly called a bulwark. Bastions are solid or hollow. A flat bastion is made in the middle of the curtain, when it is too long to be defended by the bastions in its extremes. A cut bastion has its point cut off and instead of it a re-entering angle, or an angle inwards, with two points outward. A composed bastion has two sides of the interior polygon unequal, which makes the gorges unequal. A demibastion is composed of one face only, which makes the gorges unequal. A demibastion is composed of one face only, with one flank and a demigorge. A double bastion is one raised on the plane of another.