bastardy
Noun

bastardy

  1. (legal) The condition of being illegitimate, of being born to an unmarried woman or as the fruit of adultery.
    • c. 1593, William Shakespeare, Richard III (play), [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_of_Richard_the_Third#SCENE_V._London._The_Tower_Walls.|Act 3, Scene 5].
      Go, after, after, cousin Buckingham.
      The Mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post:—
      There, at your meet'st advantage of the time,
      Infer the bastardy of Edward's children:
      Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen,
      Only for saying he would make his son
      Heir to the crown;—meaning, indeed, his house,
      Which, by the sign thereof, was termed so.
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