bastard

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈbæstɚd/ UK /ˈbɑːstəd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a child born out of wedlock; something irregular or impure in origin

The heir was barred from the throne as a bastard.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a child born out of... illegitimatelove-childhybrid mongrel spurious

Opposites

legitimatetrueborn

Word family

Derived forms bastardizebastardybastardly

Simplified etymology

Bastard probably derives from medieval Latin bastum, “packsaddle,” reflected in the French expression fils de bast, literally “packsaddle son.” The proposed connection is with the child of an itinerant mule driver who used his packsaddle as a pillow.

Etymology

From Old French bastard ('illegitimate child'), probably from fils de bast ('child of a packsaddle'), from bast ('packsaddle used as a makeshift bed') plus the pejorative suffix -ard.

bastard Old French bast Old French

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# bastard

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈbæstɚd/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbɑːstəd/

## Meanings
1. a child born out of wedlock; something irregular or impure in origin

## Examples
- The heir was barred from the throne as a bastard.

## Synonyms
- illegitimate
- love-child
- hybrid
- mongrel
- spurious

## Antonyms
- legitimate
- trueborn

## Derived Forms
- bastardize
- bastardy
- bastardly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bastard
- Root: bast

## Etymology
From Old French bastard ('illegitimate child'), probably from fils de bast ('child of a packsaddle'), from bast ('packsaddle used as a makeshift bed') plus the pejorative suffix -ard.

## AI Etymology
Bastard is from Old French bastard ('illegitimate child'), probably from fils de bast ('child of a packsaddle'), from bast ('packsaddle used as a makeshift bed') plus the pejorative suffix -ard. In present-day use, it means a child born out of wedlock; something irregular or impure in origin. Derived formations include bastardize, bastardy, and bastardly.

## Topics
- People & Society

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