Talk:natural son
Add topicI'm guessing at the definition here.
I came across this term in the book Post Captain. I've deduced the meaning from context. Googling the phrase turns up many usages but no definitions.
I would be grateful if someone could confirm the definition and provide more details.
Funkyj 02:05, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)
According to Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged by A Merriam-Webster ©2002 a natural child refers strictly to an illigitimate child.
However, The Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, by Clarendon Press ©1989 indicates that while in earlier use the term indicated biological and usually legal ties, that in later use it indicates a biologically related but illigitimate child. The switch in usage seems to have occured from the later part of the 16th Century to the mid part of the 18th Century.
While a Google search for "define: "natural son"" still provides no definitive results, a search for "define: "natural child"" now provides two returns, both indicating an illigitimate child.
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