B'ASTARD, n. A natural child; a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate or spurious child. By the civil and canon laws, a bastard becomes a legitimate child, by the intermarriage of the parents, at any future time. But by the laws of this country, as by those of England, a child, to be legitimate, must at least be born after the lawful marriage. Bastard eigne', or bastard elder, in law, is when a man has a bastard son, and afterward marries the mother, and has a legitimate son, called mulier puisne, or younger.
, v.t. To make or determine to be a bastard.