/ba steel"/ ; Fr. /banns tee"yeu/ , n. , pl. bastilles /ba steelz"/ ; Fr. /banns tee"yeu/ .
1. ( cap. ) a fortress in Paris, used as a prison, built in the 14th century and destroyed July 14, 1789.
2. any prison or jail, esp. one conducted in a tyrannical way.
3. a fortified tower, as of a castle; a small fortress; citadel.
Also, bastile /ba steel"/ .
[ 1350-1400; ME bastile bastide BASTIDE, with -ile ( -ile n. suffix of place) r. -ide; r. ME bastel basstel, with -el similarly r. -ide ]