noun
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an institution for orphans and abandoned children
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the state of being an orphan
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of orphanage
Explanation
An orphanage is a place where children without parents are cared for and housed. If a child has no parents — because the parents died or lost custody — the child is considered an orphan. Orphans are parentless. An orphanage is an institution that takes care of orphans. An orphanage will care for tiny babies and also older children without parents. Orphanages care for children until they can be placed in homes and adopted.
Vocabulary lists containing orphanage
The Shakespeare Stealer
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One for the Murphys
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Tasting the Sky
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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.
See Examples For:
Rather than the Virgin Mary, the money "should be invested in a hospital or orphanage," one married couple from Sierpce, some 30 kilometres from the statue, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
A fire that killed 11 people at an orphanage in Algeria's capital was caused by an electrical spark from a faulty air-conditioning unit, police in the North African country have said.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
He’s joined a volunteer group to provide donations for an orphanage in the Mexican capital.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026
Instead of being cared for in the orphanage, the two children were adopted together in Denmark, like tens of thousands of others sent overseas in a state-sanctioned practice that lasted decades.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
When she wrote home, she asked to be sent used children’s clothes, which she took to the orphanage.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
It also demanded a nationwide review of fire safety standards at orphanages, care homes, hospitals and schools.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Catholicism had long done exceptional charitable work in the U.S., running hospitals, orphanages, shelters, soup kitchens and more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Enquiries have proven otherwise, indicating that South Korean children in orphanages were given away for adoption without their families' consent.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
He had over $270,000 socked away at Bank of America in three accounts—all getting closed by the bank—including one for his charity that supports churches and orphanages in Uganda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2025
His wife, Galway Jane, followed him, and four of their six children had to be put into orphanages.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
