Talk:whoreson

"an illegitimate child born of unwed parents"--is there any illegitimate child who isn't? And why "born"? "A child of unwed parents" would be better.

A child can have foster parents to whom he was not born. Unwed parents can adopt. --EncycloPetey 23:50, 3 January 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps from the verb 'whore'/'hore'/'horen', or a different noun

I suggest 'whoreson' is actually from a verb, 'whore'/'hore'/'horen' (see horcop/whoreson in Middle English). Horen in Middle English meant to commit adultery/fornication. The verb would then be used as an adjective. Why do I think this is the case? 'Whore' traditionally meant 'prostitute', and in the Bible 'whore'/'harlot' means female prostitute (the entry 'harlot' here agrees, a harlot is a 'female prostitute'), and the entry itself here says literally 'son of a prostitute'. However, a bastard is not necessarily a son of a prostitute, but rather a female who had sex outside of marriage. This etymology of 'whoreson' isn't necessarily right, but it makes more sense to believe 'whore' in this case came from a verb, not from the noun 'whore'. It is also possible that horcop/whoreson came from the noun 'hore' meaning 'moral foulness'/'corruption'/'sin', or the noun 'hor' meaning adultery/fornication. In German, Hurensohn is a synonym for whoreson in English, and 'huren' sounds quite similar to the Middle English verb 'horen' which means to commit adultery/fornication.

equivalent to whore + -'s + son

With simplification of <ss> --Backinstadiums (talk) 08:44, 17 August 2019 (UTC)