The state, condition, or quality of being a bastard; illegitimacy.
From bastard + -ice (a suffix denoting a state or condition). The -ice suffix comes from Old French and Latin -itia, used to form abstract nouns. This term emerged in Middle English to describe the legal and social status of children born outside wedlock.
This word captures a moment when English was developing legal terminology for complex social categories—it shows how suffix systems let languages create new words rapidly. In medieval times, legitimacy literally determined your rights to inherit land, so having precise terminology was crucial.
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