bastardy
Americannoun
-
the state or condition of being a bastard; illegitimacy.
-
the act of begetting a bastard.
noun
Etymology
Origin of bastardy
1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French bastardie. See bastard, -y 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But Bracton does have a lot to say about monsters, duels, bastardy, concubines, sturgeon “and other royal fish,” the “pillory and the ducking-stool," and "a judgment with infamy.”
From Washington Post ● May 9, 2022
That in heraldry, a bend sinister indicates bastardy.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2019
In condoning bastardy, North Dakota and Arizona are the most liberal States in the Union.
From Time Magazine Archive
Woven into the fabric of complex New York City is the scarlet thread of bastardy which Dr. Ruth Reed of Indiana University has been unraveling for three years.
From Time Magazine Archive
Yet before it can be done we shall need an immediate and great reform of our bad and antiquated bastardy and affiliation laws.
From Women's Wild Oats Essays on the Re-fixing of Moral Standards by C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine) Hartley
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
