What does bastardisation mean?
Bastardisation refers to the process of degrading or corrupting something — most often a language, cultural practice, artistic work, or tradition — so that it departs from its original, authentic, or proper form. The noun is formed from the verb 'to bastardise', which historically meant to declare someone illegitimate but came to be applied figuratively to anything debased from a purer source. In modern usage, the word appears frequently in criticism: a film adaptation dismissed as a 'bastardisation' of a beloved novel, or a regional dish altered beyond recognition. Its connotations are firmly negative, implying not mere change but a loss of integrity or quality, which makes it a favoured term of purists and prescriptivists. Spelled with -s- in British English and -z- ('bastardization') in American English, it belongs to a family of words tracing back through Old French to the Latin 'bastardus'. While vivid and expressive, it should be used with care, as it frames change itself as a form of contamination.
nounThe action or process of degrading something, especially language, culture, or a tradition, by corrupting its original form, quality, or purity. It can also denote the result of such corruption.
- The act or process of degrading something — especially a language, art form, tradition, or institution — by corrupting it from its original or authentic state.
- The degraded or corrupted result of that process; something that has been reduced in quality or authenticity through alteration.
"Critics condemned the film's loose adaptation as a bastardisation of the original novel."
"Linguists bristled at what they saw as the steady bastardisation of formal written English by internet slang."
"To traditionalists, adding pineapple to the classic recipe was nothing short of culinary bastardisation."
The plural is rare, since the word usually denotes a general process; it appears when referring to multiple distinct instances of degradation.
"The essay catalogued the many bastardisations inflicted on Shakespeare's text over three centuries of editing."
For centuries, calling something 'bastardised' was an insult about legitimacy — now it's how purists complain about everything from pizza toppings to film adaptations.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bastardisation
Bastardisation derives from the verb 'bastardise', formed from the noun 'bastard', which entered Middle English via Old French 'bastart' and ultimately traces to medieval Latin 'bastardus'. Originally, 'bastard' referred to a child born out of wedlock, and 'to bastardise' meant to declare or render illegitimate. From around the early modern period, the verb developed a figurative sense — to degrade or corrupt something from its authentic form — from which the noun 'bastardisation' emerged. Cognate forms appear across European languages influenced by Latin and French.
Related word forms
How bastardisation is actually used
Bastardisation is predominantly used in British English; American writing typically uses the spelling 'bastardization'. The word carries strongly negative connotations and often appears in critical or prescriptivist commentary on culture, food, art, and language. It is somewhat formal or literary in register, and its figurative use derives from the older literal sense of illegitimate birth, so some contexts may carry a faintly pejorative historical charge.
Easily confused with bastardisation
Bastardization is simply the standard American spelling of the same word, with a -z- rather than British -s-; the meanings are identical.