bastardy
[bas-ter-dee]
- the state or condition of being a bastard; illegitimacy.
- the act of begetting a bastard.
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Origin of bastardy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
bastardy
- archaic the condition of being a bastard; illegitimacy
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for bastardy
n.
early 14c., "condition of illegitimacy," from Anglo-French and Old French bastardie, from bastard (see bastard). As "begetting of bastards, fornication" from 1570s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper