foundling
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of foundling
First recorded in 1250–1300, foundling is from the Middle English word found(e)ling. See found 2, -ling 1
Explanation
A foundling is a child who's been abandoned by their parents. You might also call a foundling a "waif" — and no matter what word you use, your heart will hurt for them. While a foundling is sometimes an orphan, someone whose parents have died, foundlings are often babies whose parents aren't able to care for them. In cases like this, parents sometimes abandon their babies in safe places like hospitals or churches. Many characters in literature are foundlings, from Oedipus to Superman. Moses is another famous foundling. The word shares a root with found, as in a "found child."
Vocabulary lists containing foundling
Bridge to Terabithia
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Queen of the Sea
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What I Carry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A story of passion and revenge, it is based on the original story of the destructive, obsessive love between Catherine Earnshaw and the foundling Heathcliff.
From BBC • Sep. 4, 2025
We might hear an account of a foundling left on this particular doorstep, or perhaps the family that once lived here and was forced to flee or go into hiding.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2023
The tale of the 18th-century foundling who grows up to be very popular with the ladies may have topped 1,000 pages in its original form, but McLeod found this four-episode adaptation "energetic and fast-paced."
From Salon • Apr. 30, 2023
A pair of newcomers star in the four-part series: Solly McLeod as the foundling Tom, and Sophie Wilde as his true love, Sophia, who’s now an Anglo-Caribbean immigrant.
From New York Times • Jan. 5, 2023
Here was vital essence of the no-name peasant foundling who had the unforgivable habit of helping him for no good reason, all while looking guileless, as though it were a normal thing to do.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
