orphan

[awr-fuhn]

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.

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

/ 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

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• orphanhood noun
• half-orphan noun
• unorphaned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of orphan¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of orphan¹

C15: from Late Latin orphanus, from Greek orphanos; compare Latin orbus bereaved

Example Sentences

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

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Grainier was an orphan who was sent to Idaho “at the age of six, or possibly seven,” as Mr. Patton tells us.

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McLaughlin stars as the eponymous orphan who learns about his magical heritage after he receives his acceptance letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

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“Yes, yes, paupers and grubby orphans; it is all quite tragic.”

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Christian magazine Charisma further explained that throughout the Bible, “God commands His people to ‘defend the fatherless’ and to care for orphans with compassion, justice and sacrificial love.”

Read more on Salon