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
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
But the argument quickly picked up steam when the talk turned to bastardy among the bluebloods.
From Time Magazine Archive
Why brand they us With base? with baseness? with bastardy? base, base?
From A Book of the Play Studies and Illustrations of Histrionic Story, Life, and Character by Cook, Dutton
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.
