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bastardy

[bas-ter-dee]
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noun
  1. the state or condition of being a bastard; illegitimacy.
  2. the act of begetting a bastard.
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Origin of bastardy

1400–50; late Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French bastardie. See bastard, -y3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for bastardy

bastardy

noun
  1. 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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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