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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
Bastard
,
Noun.
, note.
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.
A natural child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate or spurious child. By the civil and canon laws, a bastard becomes a legitimate child, by the intermarriage of the parents, at any future time. But by the laws of this country, as by those of England, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage.
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.
A kind of sweet wine. [Not in use.]

B'ASTARD

,
Adj.
Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate.
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.
To make or determine to be a bastard.

Definition 2024

Bastard

Bastard

See also: bastard

German

Noun

Bastard m ‎(genitive Bastards, plural Bastarde)

  1. bastard (a person born to unmarried parents; also used as an insult)

Declension

Derived terms

  • Bastardwort

bastard

bastard

See also: Bastard

English

Noun

bastard ‎(plural bastards)

  1. A person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant.
    • Television program The Big Valley, 1965
      Jarrod: Who are you?
      Heath: Your father's bastard son.
  2. A mongrel. A biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties.
  3. (vulgar, referring to a man) A contemptible, inconsiderate, overly or arrogantly rude or spiteful person. See ****, sod.
    Some bastard stole my car while I was helping an injured person.
    Jesus you are a cold bastard, you know that?
    • 1997, South Park television program
      "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!" "You bastards!"
  4. (often humorous) A man, a fellow, a male friend.
    lucky bastard, poor bastard
    Get over here, you old bastard!
  5. (often preceded by 'poor') A person deserving of pity.
    Poor bastard, I feel so sorry for him.
    These poor bastards started out life probably in bad or broken homes.
  6. (informal) A child who does not know his or her father.
  7. (informal) Something extremely difficult or unpleasant to deal with.
    Life can be a real bastard.
  8. 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.
    • 1622, Francis Bacon, Bacon's History of the Reign of King Henry VII, Cambridge University Press (1902), page 62:
      There were also made good and politic laws that parliament, against usury, which is the bastard use of money...
  9. An intermediate-grade file; also bastard file.
  10. A sweet wine.
    • William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure:
      We shall have all the world drink brown and white bastard.
  11. A sword that is midway in length between a short-sword and a long sword; also bastard sword.
  12. An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from syrups that have been boiled several times.
  13. A large mould for straining sugar.
  14. A writing paper of a particular size.
  15. (Britain, politics, pejorative) A Eurosceptic Conservative MP, especially in the government of John Major.
    • 2000, Peter Hobday, Managing the message, Allison & Busby
      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?'
    • 2011, Duncan Hall, A2 Government and Politics: Ideologies and Ideologies in Action, Lulu.com (ISBN 9781447733997), page 62
      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.
    • 2014, Melvin J. Lasky, Profanity, Obscenity and the Media, Transaction Publishers (ISBN 9781412832014)
      One “bastard,”, the Minister for Wales, John Redwood (who mounted an unsuccessful campaign to displace the Tory chief, John Major), was removed in a Cabinet reshuffle; but was his young successor William Hague any more reliable?

Usage notes

  • (one born to unmarried parents): Not always regarded as a (religious) stigma (in canon law prohibitive for clerical office without papal indult): Norman duke William, the Conqueror of England, is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard"; a Burgundian prince was even officially styled Great Bastard of Burgundy.

Synonyms

  • (illegitimate descendant): love-child, born in the vestry, see also Wikisaurus:bastard
  • (term of abuse): son of a bitch; arsehole, ****, see also Wikisaurus:git and Wikisaurus:jerk

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

bastard ‎(comparative more bastard, superlative most bastard)

  1. of or like a bastard (illegitimate human descendant)
  2. of or like a bastard (bad person)
  3. of or like a mongrel, bastardized creature/cross
  4. of abnormal, irregular or otherwise inferior qualities (size, shape etc.)
    a bastard musket; a bastard culverin
  5. spurious, lacking authenticity: counterfeit, fake
    • Barrow
      that bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices
  6. (Britain, vulgar) Very unpleasant.
    I've got a bastard headache.
  7. (printing) Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book.
  8. (theater lighting) 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.

Translations

Interjection

bastard!

  1. (rare, vulgar) Exclamation of strong dismay or strong sense of being upset.
    • 2001, Stephen King, “The Death of Jack Hamilton”, in Everything's Eventual, Simon and Schuster (2007), ISBN 978-1-4165-4985-7, page 90:
      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.
    • 2004, Cecelia Ahern, PS, I Love You (novel), Hyperion, ISBN 978-1-4013-0090-6, page 7:
      “Yes, I’m hhhhowwwwwwcch!” she yelped as she stubbed her toe against the bedpost. “****, ****, ****, bastard, ****, crap!”
    • 2006, Emily Franklin, Love from London, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-451-21773-8, page 212:
      “Isn’t she lovely?” Clem asks, hopefully rhetorically. “Oh, bastard. I’ve got to go—that’s my signal. […] ”

Translations

Verb

bastard ‎(third-person singular simple present bastards, present participle bastarding, simple past and past participle bastarded)

  1. (obsolete) To bastardize.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

References

  • “bastard” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
  • “mongrel” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

Anagrams

References

    Danish

    Etymology

    From Old French bastard.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /bastard/, [b̥aˈsd̥ɑːˀd̥] or IPA(key): /bastar/, [b̥aˈsd̥ɑːˀ]

    Noun

    bastard c (singular definite bastarden, plural indefinite bastarder)

    1. crossbreed (an organism produced by mating of individuals of different varieties or breeds)
    2. mongrel (someone of mixed kind or uncertain origin, especially a dog)
    3. (dated) bastard (person who was born out of wedlock)

    Inflection

    Synonyms

    • (crossbreed): hybrid, krydsning

    Irish

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    Borrowing from Middle English bastard, from Old French bastard.

    Noun

    bastard m ‎(genitive singular bastaird, nominative plural bastaird)

    1. bastard

    Declension

    Derived terms

    • bastard madra ‎(“mongrel”, literally “bastard dog”)
    • bastardaíocht f ‎(“bastardy; blackguardism”)

    Mutation

    Irish mutation
    Radical Lenition Eclipsis
    bastard bhastard mbastard
    Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
    possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

    References

    • "bastard" in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
    • “bastard” in Dictionary of the Irish Language, Royal Irish Academy, 1913–76.

    Middle French

    Alternative forms

    Etymology

    From Old French bastard, from Late Latin bastardus.

    Noun

    bastard m (plural bastars, feminine singular bastarde, feminine plural bastardes)

    1. bastard (child born outside of wedlock)

    Adjective

    bastard m ‎(feminine singular bastarde, masculine plural bastars, feminine plural bastardes)

    1. bastard

    Descendants

    Old French

    Etymology

    From Late Latin bastardus, of Germanic origin, possibly Frankish.

    Noun

    bastard m ‎(oblique plural bastarz or bastartz, nominative singular bastarz or bastartz, nominative plural bastard)

    1. bastard (person conceived to unmarried parents)
      • 12th Century, Unknown, Raoul de Cambrai:
        Vos savez bien qe je sui de bas lin, [e]t sui bastars
        You know well that I am of low birth, and I am a bastard
    2. (pejorative, usually vocative) bastard (insult)

    Adjective

    bastard m ‎(oblique and nominative feminine singular bastarde)

    1. bastard (conceived by unmarried parents)

    Declension

    Descendants

    Etymology

    From Middle High German bast(h)art, from Old French bastard.

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