English Explanatory Dictionary

orphan

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
  2. A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
  3. A young animal with no mother.
  4. Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
  5. A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
  6. Any unreferenced object.
adj
  1. Deprived of parents (also orphaned).
  2. Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
verb
  1. To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive).
  2. To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.

Pronunciation

/ˈɔːfən/ /ˈɔɹfən/ /ˈɔːɹfənt/ en-us-orphan.ogg

Word forms

orphan orphans orphane orphaning orphaned no-table-tags glossary orphanest orphanedst orphaneth

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Late Latin orphanus, from Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “without parents, fatherless”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos. PIE word *h₃órbʰos Cognate with Sanskrit अर्भ (árbha), Latin orbus (“orphaned”), Old High German erbi, arbi (German Erbe (“heir”)), Old English ierfa (“heir”). More at erf.

Antonyms

widow

Related words

orphan drug

Derived words

deorphanized double orphan elder orphan half orphan half-orphan maternal orphan nonorphan orphanage orphanarium orphan asylum orphan-crushing machine orphancy orphan disease orphandom orphan drug orphaner orphanet orphanhood orphan house orphan initialism orphanish orphanism orphanity orphanize orphan John orphanlike orphan medicine orphanotrophism orphanotrophy orphan page orphan receptor orphanry orphanship orphan source orphan star orphan tears orphan train orphany paper orphan paternal orphan social orphan war orphan orphan work orphan acronym orphan off

Translations

Afrikaans: weeskind Dupaningan Agta: golang Albanian: jetim Albanian: jetime Albanian: bonjak Albanian: bonjake Northern Altai: ӧскис Northern Altai: ӧксӱс Southern Altai: ӧскӱс Southern Altai: ӧксӱс Arabic: يَتِيم Arabic: يَتِيمَة Arabic: يتيم Aramaic: ܝܬܡܐ Armenian: որբ Old Armenian: որբ Asturian: güérfanu Azerbaijani: yetim Bangi: etike Bashkir: етем Bashkir: йәтим Basque: umezurtz Belarusian: сірата́ Bengali: এতিম Central Bikol: ilo Bulgarian: сира́к Bulgarian: сирота́ Burmese: မိဘမဲ့ Cahuilla: 'aminat Catalan: orfe Catalan: òrfena Cebuano: ilo Chamicuro: wakcha Chechen: бо Cherokee: ᎤᏓᏂᏯᏛ Chinese Cantonese: 孤兒 /孤儿 Chinese Cantonese: 孤兒仔 /孤儿仔 Chinese: етиму Chinese: 孤兒 /孤儿 Eastern Min Chinese: 無奶囝 /无奶囝 Gan Chinese: 孤兒 /孤儿 Jin Chinese: 孤兒 /孤儿 Chinese Mandarin: 孤兒 /孤儿 Chinese Mandarin: 遺孤 /遗孤 Xiang Chinese: 孤兒 /孤儿 Chukchi: ейвэл Chuvash: тӑлӑх Ngazidja Comorian: yatima Czech: sirotek Czech: sirota Danish: forældreløst barn Danish: hittebarn Dongxiang: oliechin Dutch: wees Dutch: weeskind Dutch: weesjongen Dutch: weesmeisje Egyptian: t:f-n:nDs-A1 Egyptian: n-nm-m-H-Xrd-nDs-A1
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