bastard English · revision 15200

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=early 13th century}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɑːs.təd/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbæs.tɚd/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bastard]], [[bor|fro|bastard|t=acknowledged child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) probably from [[m|fro|fils de bast|t=packsaddle son]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) a child conceived on a makeshift bed (saddles often served as beds while travelling), with the pejorative suffix [[m|fro|-ard]] (see [[-ard]]).^(Etymonline) Others connect it with [[la-med|bastardus]] and [[m|la-med|bastum|t=packsaddle]],^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) and Merriam-Webster suggests bast meant a barn, perhaps of Germanic origin.^(MWU 2024) The OED online prefers a link with [[ofs|bōst|t=morganatic marriage]] or an Old Saxon cognate.^(Etymonline) Hoad calls it of uncertain origin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An illegitimate child: the early 13th century in Etymonline, about 1300 in Barnhart, 1297 in the OED;^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) it occurs earlier as an epithet in names (Peter Bastard, 1250).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word was not always a stigma: William the Conqueror was called William the Bastard in state documents.^(Etymonline) The figurative sense, a thing not pure or genuine, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline) as is the adjective, used of spurious or irregular things and of mongrels and mixed breeds.^(Etymonline) A sweet Spanish wine was called bastard from 1399, and a kind of cannon from 1549.^(OED 1989) As a general vulgar term of abuse for a man it is attested from 1830,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in informal use it now also means simply a person (''lucky bastard'') or something very difficult.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1250 – as a name, Peter Bastard.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1297 – an illegitimate child.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – something not genuine; the adjective.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1399 – a sweet Spanish wine.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1830 – a term of abuse.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(old-fashioned or offensive)'' A person born to parents who were not married; an [[illegitimate]] child.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal, derogatory)'' An unpleasant or despicable person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A person, often jocular; or something very difficult or unpleasant.^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something of irregular, inferior or doubtful origin.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Born of unmarried parents.^(AHD)

+ # Not genuine; [[spurious]]; resembling a known kind without truly being it.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bastardly]]

+ * [[bastardise]]

+ * [[bastardize]]

+ * [[bastardy]]

+ * [[bastardry]]

+ * [[bastard indigo]]

+ * [[bastard eigne]]

+ * [[bastard file]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bantling]]

+ * [[-ard]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Compare [[de|Bänkling|t=bastard, a child begotten on a bench]], the source of English [[bantling]].^(Etymonline) In Kent dialect a bastard was a gelding.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}