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bastard

noun
/ˈbɑːs.təd/UK/ˈbæs.tæd//ˈbæs.tɚd/US

Etymology

From Middle English bastard, bastarde, from Old English bastard (used as an epithet), from Anglo-Norman bastard, Old French bastart (“illegitimate child”), perhaps via Medieval Latin bastardus, of obscure origin. Likely from Frankish *bāst (“marriage, relationship”) + Old French -ard, -art (pejorative suffix denoting a specific quality or condition). Frankish *bāst derives from a North Sea Germanic variety of Proto-Germanic *banstuz (“bond, connection, relationship, marriage with a second woman of lower status”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”) and is related to West Frisian boaste (“marriage, matrimony”), Middle Dutch bast (“lust, heat”), and more distantly to English boose (“cow-stall”). The term probably originally referred to a child from a polygynous marriage of heathen Germanic custom — a practice not sanctioned by the Christian churches. Alternatively, and probably less likely, Old French bastart may have originated from the Old French term fils de bast (“packsaddle son”), meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (medieval saddles often doubled as beds while travelling). However chronology makes this difficult, as bastard is attested in Old French from 1089 (Middle Latin bastardus as early as 1010), yet Old French bast (modern French bât), though attested since 1130 with the meaning of "beast of burden", doesn't acquire the specific meaning of "packsaddle" until the 13c., making it too late to have given rise to the terms bastard and bastardus with this sense. The French Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales supports the Germanic theory further above as being most likely.

  1. derived from *bʰendʰ-✻ — “to tie, bind”
  2. derived from *banstuz✻ — “bond, connection, relationship, marriage with a second woman of lower status”
  3. derived from *bāst✻ — “marriage, relationship”
  4. derived from bastardus
  5. derived from bastard
  6. inherited from bastard
  7. inherited from bastard

Definitions

  1. A person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate…

    A person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant.

    • Jarrod: Who are you? Heath: Your father’s bastard son.

  2. A mongrel (biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties).

  3. A contemptible, inconsiderate, overly or arrogantly rude or spiteful person.

    • Some bastard stole my car while I was helping an injured person.
    • You sick bastard!
    • Don't be such a bastard already!
  4. ›+ 23 more definitions

    1. A man, a fellow, a male friend.

      • lucky bastard
      • funny bastard
      • Get over here, you old bastard!

    2. A suffering person deemed deserving of compassion.

      • Poor bastard, I feel so sorry for him.
      • These poor bastards started out life probably in bad or broken homes.

    3. A child who does not know their father.

    4. Something extremely difficult or unpleasant to deal with.

      • Life can be a real bastard.

    5. A variation that is not genuine

      A variation that is not genuine; something irregular or inferior or of dubious origin, fake or counterfeit.

      • The architecture was a kind of bastard, suggesting Gothic but not being true Gothic.
      • There were also made good and politic laws that parliament, against usury, which is the bastard use of money...

    6. A bastard file.

    7. A kind of sweet wine.

      • […] we ſhall haue all the world drinke browne & white baſtard.

    8. A sword that is midway in length between a short-sword and a long sword

      A sword that is midway in length between a short-sword and a long sword; also bastard sword.

    9. An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from syrups that have been boiled…

      An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from syrups that have been boiled several times.

    10. A large mould for straining sugar.

    11. A writing paper of a particular size.

    12. A Eurosceptic Conservative MP, especially in the government of John Major.

      • If you are a politician, you make sure that you know all such references in case an interviewer suddenly asks, 'Are you one of the bastards in Mr Major's cabinet?'
      • While John Major managed to get the Maastricht Treaty through parliament, despite the efforts of the “bastards” in his cabinet, the 2001 Conservative General Election campaign was fought on entirely eurosceptic lines.
      • In the UK, Conservative Maastricht rebels (the 'bastards') almost brought down Conservative Prime Minister John Major's government.

    13. Of or like a bastard (illegitimate human descendant).

    14. Of or like a bastard (bad person).

    15. Of or like a mongrel, bastardized creature/cross.

    16. Of abnormal, irregular or otherwise inferior qualities (size, shape etc).

      • a bastard musket
      • a bastard culverin

    17. Used in the vernacular name of a species to indicate that it is similar in some way to…

      Used in the vernacular name of a species to indicate that it is similar in some way to another species, often (but not always) one of another genus.

      • bastard gemsbok; bastard mahogany; bastard toadflax; bastard trumpeter

    18. Very unpleasant.

      • I’ve got a bastard headache.

    19. Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book.

    20. Consisting of one predominant color blended with small amounts of complementary color

      Consisting of one predominant color blended with small amounts of complementary color; used to replicate natural light because of their warmer appearance.

      • A bastard orange gel produces predominantly orange light with undertones of blue.

    21. Exclamation of strong dismay or strong sense of being upset.

      • Jack says, “Oh! Bastard! I’m hit!” That bullet had to have come in the busted back window and how it missed Johnnie to hit Jack I don’t know.
      • “Yes, I’m hhhhowwwwwwcch!” she yelped as she stubbed her toe against the bedpost. “Shit, shit, fuck, bastard, shit, crap!”
      • “Isn’t she lovely?” Clem asks, hopefully rhetorically. “Oh, bastard. I’ve got to go—that’s my signal. […]”

    22. To bastardize.

      • After her husband's death she was matter of tragedy , having lived to see her brother beheaded , and her two sons deposed from the crown , bastarded in their blood

    23. A surname from Old French.

The neighborhood

Derived

/b/tard, abastard, bastage, bastard fox, bastardhood, bastardisation, bastardization, bastardise, bastardize, bastardish, bastardism, bastarditis, bastardless, bastardlike, bastardling, bastardly, bastardness, bastardo, bastardous, bastardship, bastardy, bastardry, bastich, bastard agrimony, bastard alkanet, bastard ashlar, bastard bar, bastard big-footed mouse, bastard cabbage, bastard cabbage tree, bastard camphor tree, bastard cedar, bastard coolibah, bastard craps, bastard-dom, bastard dory, bastard eel, bastard eigne, bastard file, bastard gemsbok · +52 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bastard. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA