- bastard (n.) - "illegitimate child," early 13c., from Old
French bastard (11c., Modern French bâtard), "acknowledged child
of a nobleman by a woman other than his wife," probably from
fils de bast "packsaddle son," meaning a child conceived on an
improvised bed (saddles often doubled as beds while traveling),
with pejorative ending -art (see -ard). Alternative possibly is
that the word is from Proto-Germanic *banstiz "barn," equally
suggestive of low origin. Not always regarded as a stigma; the
Conqueror is referred to in state documents as "William the
Bastard." Figurative sense of "something not pure or genuine" is
late 14c.; use as a vulgar term of abuse for a man is attested
from 1830. As an adjective from late 14c. Among the "bastard"
words in Halliwell-Phillipps' "Dictionary of Archaic and
Provincial Words" are avetrol, chance-bairn, by-blow, harecoppe,
horcop, and gimbo ("a bastard's bastard").