Byblows

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An illegitimate child born to a parent outside of marriage; a secondary or minor product that is not the primary focus; an unplanned consequence arising from a specific action or event
2. A child conceived without wedlock, often used in a historical context; a lesser result occurring in addition to a main outcome; a secondary effect that might arise from an initial decision
3. Referring to offspring that result from extramarital relationships; denoting unexpected or additional results that are not the main aim; a byproduct of certain actions that may have unintended implications

Etymology: "Byblows" is the plural of "byblow," and the singular is the more revealing piece of the puzzle. A byblow is a blow that comes from the side, a glancing hit, and the word's origin is built from "by," meaning aside or incidental, and "blow," a stroke. The sense that moved from a sideways strike to an illegitimate child, and then to any incidental product, is the part worth lingering on: the thing that falls off to the side of the main event. The plural takes that figurative sense and applies it to a crowd of such offspring or results. Because it is the form of "byblow," its story is the same story told in the singular.