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 carer working at the orphanage was amongst those who died, according to the AFP news agency quoting a police report.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
But instead, she learned that their mother had entrusted them to an orphanage while the family dealt with financial difficulties.
From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026
In Anaheim, St. Catherine’s Academy combines Catholic boys’ K-8 education and military traditions, having its beginnings in a girls school, later an orphanage, and, in 1924, a military school.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 22, 2026
On and on she went as she called up most of the twenty-three girls and three boys who lived at the orphanage.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
It also demanded a nationwide review of fire safety standards at orphanages, care homes, hospitals and schools.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Russia insists it has moved some Ukrainian children from their homes or orphanages to protect them from hostilities.
From Barron's ● Mar. 10, 2026
Between 2005 and 2010, the number of orphanages in Cambodia jumped from 154 to 269, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
He had bills due, five full-time employees to pay and money that was supposed to go to the orphanages for food.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2025
She knocks on doors of churches, orphanages, hospitals.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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.
