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bastard

 - 6 dictionary results

bas⋅tard

  [bas-terd]
–noun
1. a person born of unmarried parents; an illegitimate child.
2. Slang.
a. a vicious, despicable, or thoroughly disliked person: Some bastard slashed the tires on my car.
b. a person, esp. a man: The poor bastard broke his leg.
3. something irregular, inferior, spurious, or unusual.
4. bastard culverin.
–adjective
5. illegitimate in birth.
6. spurious; not genuine; false: The architecture was bastard Gothic.
7. of abnormal or irregular shape or size; of unusual make or proportions: bastard quartz; bastard mahogany.
8. having the appearance of; resembling in some degree: a bastard Michelangelo; bastard emeralds.
9. Printing. (of a character) not of the font in which it is used or found.
Use bastard in a Sentence
Origin:
1250–1300; ME < AF bastard, ML bastardus (from 11th century), perh. < Gmc (Ingvaeonic) *bāst-, presumed var. of *bōst- marriage + OF -ard -ard, taken as signifying the offspring of a polygynous marriage to a woman of lower status, a pagan tradition not sanctioned by the church; cf. OFris bost marriage < Gmc *bandstu-, a n. deriv. of IE *bhendh- bind; the traditional explanation of OF bastard as deriv. of fils de bast “child of a packsaddle” is doubtful on chronological and geographical grounds

Synonyms:
6. fake, imitation, imperfect, sham, irregular, phony.

bastard culverin

 
–noun Military.
a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 lb. (11 and 17.6 kg).
Also called bastard.

Origin:
1540–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To bastard
bas·tard   (bās'tərd)   
n.  

  1. A child born out of wedlock.

  2. Something that is of irregular, inferior, or dubious origin.

  3. Slang A person, especially one who is held to be mean or disagreeable.

adj.  

  1. Born of unwed parents; illegitimate.

  2. Not genuine; spurious: a bastard style of architecture.

  3. Resembling a known kind or species but not truly such.


[Middle English, from Old French, probably of Germanic origin; akin to Old Frisian bōst, marriage.]
bas'tard·ly adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

bastard 
1223, "illegitimate child," from O.Fr., "child of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife," probably from fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling), with pejorative ending -art. Alternate possibly is that the word is from P.Gmc. *banstiz "barn," equally suggestive of low origin. Not always regarded as a stigma; the Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the Bastard." Figurative sense is from 1552; use as a vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested from 1830. Bastardize "debase" is from 1587.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: bas·tard
Pronunciation: 'bas-t&rd
Function: noun
: an illegitimate child
NOTE: The word bastard is no longer used in legal contexts. —bas·tardy /'bas-t&r-dE/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Bible Dictionary

Bastard

In the Old Testament the rendering of the Hebrew word _mamzer'_, which means "polluted." In Deut. 23:2, it occurs in the ordinary sense of illegitimate offspring. In Zech. 9:6, the word is used in the sense of foreigner. From the history of Jephthah we learn that there were bastard offspring among the Jews (Judg. 11:1-7). In Heb. 12:8, the word (Gr. nothoi) is used in its ordinary sense, and denotes those who do not share the privileges of God's children.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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