unfathered

adjective

un·​fa·​thered ˌən-ˈfä-t͟hərd 

1

archaic : having no acknowledged or known father

… children he had cast upon the world, unfathered …

—Frances Hodgson Burnett

2

archaic : having no known origin

… his adventures were of that extraordinary nature to which … every strange, unfathered story is ascribed.

—The Athenæum

Synonyms

• baseborn
• illegitimate
• misbegotten
• natural
• spurious
• supposititious

Word History

First Known Use

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1