bastion

[KatyBr]

bas·tion (bschn, -t-n)
n.
1. A projecting part of a fortification.
2. A well-fortified position.
3. One that is considered similar to a defensive stronghold: You are a bastion of strength. See Synonyms at bulwark.



[French, from Old French bastillon, from bastille, fortress; see bastille.]



bastioned adj.
Noun 1. bastion - a group that defends a principle; "a bastion against corruption"; "the last bastion of communism"
defence force, defense force, defence, defense - an organization of defenders that provides resistance against attack; "he joined the defense against invasion"
2. bastion - a stronghold into which people could go for shelter during a battle
citadel
acropolis - the citadel in ancient Greek towns
kremlin - citadel of a Russian town
Kremlin - citadel of Moscow, housing the offices of the Russian government
stronghold, fastness - a strongly fortified defensive structure
3. bastion - projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
fortification, munition - defensive structure consisting of walls or mounds built around a stronghold to strengthen it

from freedictionary.com

I checked this hasn't been already suggested.

Kt

[Slava]

Not only hasn't this one been taken up in the last four years, but dictionary.com thinks it's from Italian:

Origin:
1590–1600; < MF < It bastione, equiv. to Upper It bastí(a) bastion, orig., fortified, built (c. It bastita, ptp. of bastire to build < Gmc; see baste1) + -one aug. suffix

etymonline.com disagrees. None of the listings for this or related words mentions Italian at all.

So, where does that leave us? I guess we need some professional treatment from the Good Doctor, eh?