Bas"tard (?), n. [OF. bastard,
bastart, F. b?tard, prob. fr. OF. bast, F.
b?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.
☞ 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.
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.
3. A sweet Spanish wine like muscadel in
flavor.
Brown bastard is your only drink.
Shak.
4. A writing paper of a particular size. See
Paper.
Bas"tard (?), a. 1.
Begotten and born out of lawful matrimony; illegitimate. See
Bastard, n., note.
2. Lacking in genuineness; spurious; false;
adulterate; -- applied to things which resemble those which are genuine,
but are really not so.
That bastard self-love which is so vicious in itself,
and productive of so many vices.
Barrow.
3. Of an unusual make or proportion; as, a
bastard musket; a bastard culverin. [Obs.]
4. (Print.) Abbreviated, as the half title
in a page preceding the full title page of a book.
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
(Zoöl.), three to five quill feathers on a small joint
corresponding to the thumb in some mammalia; the alula.
Bas"tard, v. t. To bastardize.
[Obs.] Bacon.