What is bastardize?

Bastardize is a verb that means to change something in a way that devalues or corrupts it, often by distorting its original meaning or intention. It can refer to altering a language, culture, practice or product in a way that is considered to be a dilution or degradation of the true form. The term is often used in discussions about appropriation and cultural misappropriation, where one culture adopts and adapts elements of another culture. Bastardization can also refer to a legal term that denotes the illegitimate birth of a child, whose parents were not married at the time of birth. In this context, it is considered an offensive term and is rarely used in modern legal contexts.