orphanage

[ awr-fuh-nij ]

/ ˈɔr fə nɪdʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR orphanage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an institution for the housing and care of orphans.

the state of being an orphan; orphanhood.

Archaic. orphans collectively.

Nearby words

Origin of orphanage

First recorded in 1530–40; orphan + -age

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for orphanage

By day, she cares for her children in a bombed-out milk factory that hosts her orphanage, Okutiuka.
Death Metal Angola: Heavy Metal in War-Torn Africa|Nina Strochlic|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last time Xido was at the orphanage in 2012, money was running out and there was only bread to eat for a few days.
Death Metal Angola: Heavy Metal in War-Torn Africa|Nina Strochlic|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In 2012, Nicholas and Chris Grava worked at an orphanage in an impoverished area in Cape Town, South Africa.
Dancing Grandpas, Morgan Freeman Impressions, and More Viral Videos|Jack Holmes|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Three big sunflowers were lying on the still fresh imprint of a human body in the soil in the orphanage yard.
In the Killing Fields of Ukraine with Children Who Saw the MH17 Horror|Anna Nemtsova|July 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Is she back in the orphanage where it smells like ammonia and cooked cabbage?
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach|Tina Traster|May 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Of course, Whitefield was also busily occupied with his Orphanage.
The Life of the Rev. George Whitefield, Volume I (of 2)|Luke Tyerman
He'd presented it to an orphanage mainly because, irrationally, he'd have liked to keep it.
The Ambulance Made Two Trips|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
I buried a mother and child this afternoon, and have just come from a house of orphanage and grief.
Macaria|Augusta Jane Evans Wilson
Do you recall whether or not Lee was ever in an orphanage, an orphan home here in New Orleans?
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
A thrilling story of orphanage, illustrating the trials and temptations of the young, and the happy results of Christian nurture.
Brave Old Salt|Oliver Optic

British Dictionary definitions for orphanage

orphanage

/ (ˈɔːfənɪdʒ) /

noun

an institution for orphans and abandoned children

the state of being an orphan

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for orphanage

orphanage

1570s, "condition of being an orphan," from orphan (n.) + -age. Meaning "home for orphans" is from 1865 (earlier was orphan house, 1711).

orphanage

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of orphanage

Examples from the Web for orphanage

orphanage

noun

orphanage