Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Bastard
Bas′tard
,Noun.
[OF.
bastard
, bastart
, F. b[GREEK]tard
, prob. fr. OF. bast
, F. b[GREEK]t
, a packsaddle used as a bed by the muleteers (fr. LL. bastum
) + -ard
. OF. fils de bast
son of the packsaddle; as the muleteers were accustomed to use their saddles for beds in the inns. See Cervantes, “Don Quixote,” chap. 16; and cf. G. bankert
, fr. bank
bench.] 1.
A “natural” child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child; one born of an illicit union.
☞ By the civil and canon laws, and by the laws of many of the United States, a bastard becomes a legitimate child by the intermarriage of the parents at any subsequent time. But by those of England, and of some states of the United States, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage.
Kent. Blackstone.
2.
(Sugar Refining)
(a)
An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from the sirups that have already had several boilings.
(b)
A large size of mold, in which sugar is drained.
3.
A sweet Spanish wine like muscatel in flavor.
Brown
bastard
is your only drink. Shakespeare
4.
A writing paper of a particular size. See
Paper
. Bas′tard
,Adj.
1.
Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See , note.
Bastard
, Noun.
2.
Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; – applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so.
That
bastard
self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices. Barrow.
3.
Of an unusual or irregular make or proportion;
as, a
. bastard
musket; a bastard
culverin[Obs.]
4.
(Print.)
Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book.
Bastard ashlar
(Arch.)
, stones for ashlar work, roughly squared at the quarry.
– Bastard file
, a file intermediate between the coarsest and the second cut.
– Bastard type
(Print.)
, type having the face of a larger or a smaller size than the body; e. g., a nonpareil face on a brevier body.
– Bastard wing
(Zool.)
, three to five quill feathers on a small joint corresponding to the thumb in some mammalia; the alula.
Bas′tard
,Verb.
T.
To bastardize.
[Obs.]
Bacon.
Webster 1828 Edition
Bastard
B'ASTARD
,Noun.
Bastard eigne', or bastard elder, in law, is when a man has a bastard son, and afterward marries the mother, and has a legitimate son, called mulier puisne, or younger.
B'ASTARD
,Noun.
B'ASTARD
,Adj.
2.
Spurious;; not genuine; false; supposititious; adulterate. In this sense, it is applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not genuine; as a bastard hope, bastard honors.In military affairs, bastard is applied to pieces of artillery which are of an unusual make or proportion, whether longer or shorter, as the double culverin extraordinary, half or quarter culverin extraordinary.
Bastard-Flower-fence, a plant, a species of Adenanthera.
Bastard-hemp, a plant, a species of Datisca, false hemp.
Bastard-Rocket, dyers-weed, or wild woad, a species of Reseda.
Bastard-Star of Bethlehem, a plant, a species of Albuca.
Bastard-Scarlet, a red color dyed with balemadder.
B'ASTARD
,Verb.
T.