n. [ OF. bastard, bastart, F. b&unr_;tard, prob. fr. OF. bast, F. b&unr_;t, a packsaddle used as a bed by the muleteers (fr. LL. bastum) + -ard. OF. fils de bast son of the packsaddle; as the muleteers were accustomed to use their saddles for beds in the inns. See Cervantes, “Don Quixote, ” chap. 16; and cf. G. bankert, fr. bank bench. ] 1. A “natural” child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child; one born of an illicit union. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ By the civil and canon laws, and by the laws of many of the United States, a bastard becomes a legitimate child by the intermarriage of the parents at any subsequent time. But by those of England, and of some states of the United States, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage. Kent. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Sugar Refining) (a) An inferior quality of soft brown sugar, obtained from the sirups that have already had several boilings. (b) A large size of mold, in which sugar is drained. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sweet Spanish wine like muscatel in flavor. [ 1913 Webster ]

Brown bastard is your only drink. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A writing paper of a particular size. See Paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See Bastard, n., note. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false; adulterate; -- applied to things which resemble those which are genuine, but are really not so. [ 1913 Webster ]

That bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself, and productive of so many vices. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Of an unusual or irregular make or proportion; as, a bastard musket; a bastard culverin. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Print.) Abbreviated, as the half title in a page preceding the full title page of a book. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bastard ashlar (Arch.), stones for ashlar work, roughly squared at the quarry. --
Bastard file, a file intermediate between the coarsest and the second cut. --
Bastard type (Print.), type having the face of a larger or a smaller size than the body; e. g., a nonpareil face on a brevier body. --
Bastard wing (Zool.), three to five quill feathers on a small joint corresponding to the thumb in some mammalia; the alula. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To bastardize. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An act that debases or corrupts. [ chiefly Brit. ]
Syn. -- bastardization. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. Same as bastardize. [ chiefly Brit. ] [ PJC ]

n. The state of being a bastard; bastardy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An act that debases or corrupts.
Syn. -- bastardisation. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bastardized (&unr_;); p. pr. & vb. n. Bastardizing. ] 1. To make or prove to be a bastard; to stigmatize as a bastard; to declare or decide legally to be illegitimate. [ 1913 Webster ]

The law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if born, though not begotten, in lawful wedlock. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beget out of wedlock. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. to change something (for example, art forms) so that its value declines; to debase.
Syn. -- bastardise. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. (Arts) deriving from more than one source or style. impure (vs. pure) --- (combined with extraneous elements) [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Bastardlike; baseborn; spurious; corrupt. [ Obs. ] -- adv. In the manner of a bastard; spuriously. [ Obs. ] Shak. Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]