bastard

From Middle English bastard, bastarde, from Anglo-Norman bastard, Old French bastart (“illegitimate child”), perhaps via Medieval Latin bastardus, of obscure origin.

Possibly from Frankish *bāst (“marriage, relationship”) + Old French -ard, -art (pejorative suffix denoting a specific quality or condition). Frankish *bāst derives from a North Sea Germanic variety of Proto-Germanic *banstuz (“bond, connection, relationship, marriage with a second woman of lower status”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰendʰ- (“to tie, bind”) and is related to West Frisian boaste (“marriage, matrimony”), Middle Dutch bast (“lust, heat”), and more distantly to English boose (“cow-stall”). The term probably originally referred to a child from a polygynous marriage of heathen Germanic custom — a practice not sanctioned by the Christian churches.

Alternatively, Old French bastart may have originated from the Old French term fils de bast (“packsaddle son”), meaning a child conceived on an improvised bed (medieval saddles often doubled as beds while travelling). However chronology makes this difficult, as bastard is attested in Old French from 1089 (Middle Latin bastardus as early as 1010), yet Old French bast (modern French bât), though attested since 1130 with the meaning of "beast of burden", doesn't acquire the specific meaning of "packsaddle" until the 13c., making it too late to have given rise to the terms bastard and bastardus with this sense. The French Centre National de Ressources Textuelles et Lexicales supports the Germanic theory further above as being most likely.^[1]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑːs.təd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbæs.tɚd/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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• Rhymes: -ɑːstə(ɹ)d, -æstə(ɹ)d

bastard (countable and uncountable, plural bastards)

1. (dated) A person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant.

   Synonyms: love child, born in the vestry, illegitimate; see also Thesaurus:bastard

   • 1965, The Big Valley:

     Jarrod: Who are you?
     Heath: Your father’s bastard son.

2. A mongrel (biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties).
3. (vulgar, offensive or derogatory, usually referring specifically to a man) A contemptible, inconsiderate, overly or arrogantly rude or spiteful person.

   Synonyms: son of a bitch, arsehole, asshole; see also Thesaurus:git, Thesaurus:jerk

   Some bastard stole my car while I was helping an injured person.

   You sick bastard!

   Don't be such a bastard already!

   I assume that bastard won't be seen again.

   • 1997, South Park television program:

     “Oh my God, they killed Kenny!” “You bastards!”

4. (endearing or humorous) A man, a fellow, a male friend.

   lucky bastard

   funny bastard

   Get over here, you old bastard!

5. (often preceded by ‘poor’) A suffering person deemed deserving of compassion.

   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 their 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, published 1902, page 62:

     There were also made good and politic laws that parliament, against usury, which is the bastard use of money...

9. A bastard file.
10. A kind of sweet wine.
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 72, column 2:

      […] we ſhall haue all the world drinke browne & 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. (UK, politics, derogatory) 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, 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 September 23, Stanley Johnson, Stanley, I Resume: Further recollections of an exuberant life, Biteback Publishing, →ISBN:

      In the UK, Conservative Maastricht rebels (the 'bastards') almost brought down Conservative Prime Minister John Major's government.

    • 2014, Melvin J. Lasky, Profanity, Obscenity and the Media, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN:

      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?

    • 2020 September 3, Ian Buruma, The Churchill Complex: The Rise and Fall of the Special Relationship from Winston and FDR to Trump and Johnson, Atlantic Books, →ISBN:

      But there is no doubt that the “bastards,” who had tormented so many Tory leaders over the years, had won. The longed-for break with “Europe” had finally come, but at the same price that Americans paid for Trump's takeover of the Republican Party.

• (one born to unmarried parents): Not always regarded as a stigma (though it is one in e.g. 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.
• (male friend): "Bastard" used as a term of endearment is particularly characteristic of Australian English usage. See Appendix:Australian English terms for people for more.

• legitimate

• (illegitimate child): bastardess

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

   1. Spurious, lacking authenticity: counterfeit, fake.
      • a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Self-conceit”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:

        that bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices

   2. (of a language) Imperfect; not spoken or written well or in the classical style; broken.
      • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

        Of what race could these people be? Their language was a bastard Arabic, and yet they were not Arabs; I was quite sure of that.

5. Used in the vernacular name of a species to indicate that it is similar in some way to another species, often (but not always) one of another genus.

   bastard gemsbok; bastard mahogany; bastard toadflax; bastard trumpeter

6. (UK, Ireland, 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.

bastard!

1. (rare) 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, published 2007, →ISBN, 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, Hyperion, →ISBN, page 7:

     “Yes, I’m hhhhowwwwwwcch!” she yelped as she stubbed her toe against the bedpost. “Shit, shit, fuck, bastard, shit, crap!”

   • 2006, Emily Franklin, Love from London, Penguin, →ISBN, page 212:

     “Isn’t she lovely?” Clem asks, hopefully rhetorically. “Oh, bastard. I’ve got to go—that’s my signal. […] ”

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

1. (obsolete) To bastardize.
   • 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam, Viscount St. Alban [i.e. Francis Bacon], The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh, […], London: […] W[illiam] Stansby for Matthew Lownes, and William Barret, →OCLC:

     After her husband's death she was matter of tragedy , having lived to see her brother beheaded , and her two sons deposed from the crown , bastarded in their blood

• “bastard”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “bastard”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “mongrel”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.

• Barstad, batards, tabards

From Occitan bastard.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [bəsˈtart]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [basˈtaɾt]

bastard (feminine bastarda, masculine plural bastards, feminine plural bastardes)

1. illegitimate (born out of wedlock)
2. adulterated

• bastardia

bastard m (plural bastards, feminine bastarda)

1. bastard (child born out of wedlock)

• “bastard” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbastart]
• Hyphenation: ba‧s‧tard

bastard m anim

1. bastard, love child (person born to unmarried parents)

   Synonym: levoboček

2. bastard, mongrel (biological cross between different breeds, groups or varieties)
3. bastard, asshole

• “bastard”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “bastard”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

From Old French bastard.

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

bastard c (singular definite bastarden, plural indefinite bastarder)

1. crossbreed (an organism produced by mating of individuals of different varieties or breeds)

   Synonyms: hybrid, krydsning

2. mongrel (someone of mixed kind or uncertain origin, especially a dog)
3. (dated) bastard (person who was born out of wedlock)

• bastairt, bastart

Borrowed from Middle English bastard, from Old French bastard.

bastard m (genitive singular bastaird, nominative plural bastaird)

1. bastard

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bastard”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “bastard”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bastard”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bastard”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024

• bastarde, basterd, bastart

From Anglo-Norman bastard; equivalent to bast (“illegitimacy”) +‎ -ard.

• IPA^(key): /basˈtard/, /ˈbastard/

bastard (plural bastardes)

1. an illegitimate child, especially a noble one; a bastard
2. a kind of fortified wine, often with spices added
3. (rare) a heretic or sinner; one separated from one's deity
4. (rare) a dog that isn't purebred; a mutt or mongrel
5. (rare) a botanical tendril or offshoot

• bastardie

• English: bastard
• Scots: bastart, bastert

• “bastā̆rd, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-03.

bastard

1. coming not from wedlock, coming from bastardy; illegitimate
2. low-quality, inferior, imitation; of bad manufacture
3. (rare) not purebred; of mixed lineage
4. (rare) made using or incorporating fortified wine
5. (rare) wrong, erroneous, incorrect

• English: bastard
• Scots: bastart, bastert

• “bastā̆rd, n. as adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-03.

• bastart

From Old French bastard, from Late Latin bastardus.

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

1. bastard (child born outside of wedlock)

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

1. bastard

• French: bâtard

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

bastard oblique singular, 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. (derogatory, usually vocative) bastard (insult)

bastard m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bastarde)

1. bastard (conceived by unmarried parents)

• French: bâtard
• → Galician: bastardo
• → Middle Dutch: bastaert
  • Dutch: bastaard, basterd (archaic)
    • → Indonesian: bastar
    • →? Saramaccan: bása
    • →? Sranan Tongo: basra
• → Middle English: bastard, bastarde, basterd, bastart
  • English: bastard
  • Scots: bastart, bastert

Borrowed from German Bastard or Italian bastardo, from Late Latin bastardus, from Frankish, possibly through Old French bastardus.^[1][2]

• IPA^(key): /ˈbas.tart/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -astart
• Syllabification: bas‧tard

bastard m pers

1. (literary) bastard (person who was born out of wedlock, and hence often considered an illegitimate descendant)

   Synonym: bękart

bastard m animal

1. (biology, of animals or plants) bastard, crossbreed, hybrid, mongrel (organism produced by mating of individuals of different varieties or breeds)

   Synonyms: (obsolete) bękart, hybryda, krzyżówka, mieszaniec

• bastard in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bastard in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Borrowed from Italian bastardo.

bastard m (plural bastarzi)

1. bastard

bastard c

1. a bastard (biological cross between different breeds, groups, or varieties)
2. (dated, derogatory) a bastard (person born out of wedlock)

• oäkting

• bastard in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bastard in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bastard in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)