orphan

American  

[awr-fuhn] / ˈɔr fən /

noun

1. a child who has lost both parents through death, or, less commonly, one parent.

2. a young animal that has been deserted by or has lost its mother.

3. a person or thing that is without protective affiliation, sponsorship, etc..

   The committee is an orphan of the previous administration.

4. Printing.

   1. (especially in word processing) the first line of a paragraph when it appears alone at the bottom of a page.

   2. widow.

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adjective

1. bereft of parents.

2. of or for orphans.

   an orphan home.

3. not authorized, supported, or funded; not part of a system; isolated; abandoned.

   an orphan research project.

4. lacking a commercial sponsor, an employer, etc..

   orphan workers.

verb (used with object)

1. to deprive of parents or a parent through death.

   He was orphaned at the age of four.

2. Informal.  to deprive of commercial sponsorship, an employer, etc..

   The recession has orphaned many experienced workers.

orphan British  

/ ˈɔːfən /

noun

1. 1. a child, one or (more commonly) both of whose parents are dead

   2. ( as modifier )

      an orphan child

2. printing the first line of a paragraph separated from the rest of the paragraph by occurring at the foot of a page

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verb

1. (tr) to deprive of one or both parents

Other Word Forms

• half-orphan noun
• orphanhood noun
• unorphaned adjective

Etymology

Origin of orphan

1425–75; late Middle English (noun) < Late Latin orphanus destitute, without parents < Greek orphanós bereaved; akin to Latin orbus bereaved

Example Sentences

It prioritises vulnerable children, including amputees and orphans, and pregnant or breastfeeding mothers.

From BBC

After 3½ decades of Francoism, during which, the author reminds us, the dictator “decided that Spaniards were too childish to govern themselves,” there was a palpable sense of a nation orphaned.

From The Wall Street Journal

I once threw an impromptu bash on the 4th night of Chanukah, sharing latkes and dreidels with out-of-town students and other “holiday orphans.”

From Salon

On Tuesday, after months without seeing her cardiologist, Newman was admitted to Huntington Hospital gasping for air, afraid to even close her eyes at night lest her daughter wake up an orphan.

From Los Angeles Times

She co-founded a school for orphans, preserved and sold Hamilton’s papers, and commissioned a biographical project that kept running aground.

From The Wall Street Journal