Wiktionary

bastard

See also: Bastard

English

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Alternative forms

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  • bastid (pronunciation spelling)

Etymology

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'ƿyllelm bastard' in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 1066

From Middle English bastard, bastarde, from Old English bastard (used as an epithet), 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]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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.
  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.
  15. A writing paper of a particular size.
    Synonym: copy
  16. (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.

Usage notes

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  • (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.

Antonyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Adjective

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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.
  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.

Translations

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Interjection

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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. […] ”

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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

  1. (obsolete) To bastardize.

References

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  1. ^ Etymology and history of “bâtard”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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From Occitan bastard.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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

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

Derived terms

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Noun

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bastard m (plural bastards, feminine bastarda)

  1. bastard (child born out of wedlock)

Further reading

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Czech

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Pronunciation

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

Noun

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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

Declension

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Declension of bastard (hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative bastard bastardi
genitive bastarda bastardů
dative bastardovi, bastardu bastardům
accusative bastarda bastardy
vocative bastarde bastardi
locative bastardovi, bastardu bastardech
instrumental bastardem bastardy

Further reading

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

Danish

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Etymology

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From Old French bastard.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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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)

Inflection

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Declension of bastard
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative bastard bastarden bastarder bastarderne
genitive bastards bastardens bastarders bastardernes

Irish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Middle English bastard, from Old French bastard.

Noun

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bastard m (genitive singular bastaird, nominative plural bastaird)

  1. bastard

Declension

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Declension of bastard (first declension)
bare forms
singular plural
nominative bastard bastaird
vocative a bhastaird a bhastarda
genitive bastaird bastard
dative bastard bastaird
forms with the definite article
singular plural
nominative an bastard na bastaird
genitive an bhastaird na mbastard
dative leis an mbastard
don bhastard 		leis na bastaird

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Mutated forms of bastard
radical lenition eclipsis
bastard bhastard mbastard

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /basˈtard/, /ˈbastard/

Noun

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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

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • English: bastard
  • Scots: bastart, bastert

References

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Adjective

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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

Descendants

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References

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Middle French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old French bastard, from Late Latin bastardus.

Noun

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

  1. bastard (child born outside of wedlock)

Adjective

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

  1. bastard

Descendants

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Old French

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Etymology

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

Noun

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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)

Adjective

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bastard m (oblique and nominative feminine singular bastarde)

  1. bastard (conceived by unmarried parents)

Declension

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Case masculine feminine neuter
singular subject bastards bastarde bastard
oblique bastard bastarde bastard
plural subject bastard bastardes bastard
oblique bastards bastardes bastard

Descendants

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bastard m pers

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

Declension

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Declension of bastard
singular plural
nominative bastard bastardzi/bastardy (deprecative)
genitive bastarda bastardów
dative bastardowi bastardom
accusative bastarda bastardów
instrumental bastardem bastardami
locative bastardzie bastardach
vocative bastardzie bastardzi

Noun

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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

Declension

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Declension of bastard
singular plural
nominative bastard bastardy
genitive bastarda bastardów
dative bastardowi bastardom
accusative bastarda bastardy
instrumental bastardem bastardami
locative bastardzie bastardach
vocative bastardzie bastardy

Derived terms

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adjective
noun

References

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  1. ^ Mirosław Bańko, Lidia Wiśniakowska (2021) “bastard”, in Wielki słownik wyrazów obcych, →ISBN
  2. ^ bastard in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN

Further reading

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

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Italian bastardo.

Noun

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bastard m (plural bastarzi)

  1. bastard

Declension

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Declension of bastard
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative bastard bastardul bastarzi bastarzii
genitive-dative bastard bastardului bastarzi bastarzilor
vocative bastardule bastarzilor

Swedish

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Noun

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bastard c

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

Declension

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Declension of bastard
nominative genitive
singular indefinite bastard bastards
definite bastarden bastardens
plural indefinite bastarder bastarders
definite bastarderna bastardernas

See also

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References

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