Bastardized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Changed in a manner that reduces value and originality
2. Modified from its original state, leading to a loss of quality and authenticity
3. Transformed into a degraded or less genuine version, losing its original quality

Etymology: "Bastardized" comes from "bastard," which in medieval English referred to a child born to unmarried parents. The base word entered English in the late 1200s, probably from Old French "bastard," and the notion behind it was of a person of uncertain or irregular origin, not of a person of low character. The sense of something illegitimate or spurious came later, and "bastard" began to be used of things that were not genuine, such as a "bastard" type of printing or a hybrid breed, by the 1500s. The verb form "bastardize" appeared in the 1600s with the sense of making something illegitimate or corrupting its original form, and the past participle "bastardized" carries that same idea of a thing altered until it has lost its authentic character. The -ize ending, from Greek "-izein" through Latin and French, turns the noun into a verb meaning "to make into."

Synonyms: corrupted, debased, diluted, tainted, contaminated

Antonyms: purified, refined, clarified, enhanced, elevated