bastard

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
bastard /ˈbɑːstəd, ˈbast-/

▶noun

• 1 archaic or derogatory an illegitimate person.

• 2 informal an unpleasant or despicable person.

  ■ Brit. a person of a specified kind: you lucky bastard!

  ■ a difficult or awkward situation or device.

▶adjective

• 1 archaic or derogatory illegitimate.

• 2 no longer in its pure or original form.

– derivatives
bastardy noun.

word history: The word bastard came into English from Old French in the medieval period and derives from medieval Latin bastardus, which probably came from bastum ‘packsaddle’. The reason for such a dramatic change of meaning is uncertain: however, there could be a parallel in the Old French term for an illegitimate child, fils de bast, literally ‘packsaddle son’, i.e. the son of a mule driver who had a brief sexual encounter with a woman, using a packsaddle for a pillow, and was gone by morning.