Talk:natural son

I'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.