orphan

[awr-fuh n] /ˈɔr fən/
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 (def 3b).
adjective
5.
bereft of parents.
6.
of or for orphans:
an orphan home.
7.
not authorized, supported, or funded; not part of a system; isolated; abandoned:
an orphan research project.
8.
lacking a commercial sponsor, an employer, etc.:
orphan workers.
verb (used with object)
9.
to deprive of parents or a parent through death:
He was orphaned at the age of four.
10.
Informal. to deprive of commercial sponsorship, an employer, etc.:
The recession has orphaned many experienced workers.
Origin
1425-75; late Middle English (noun) < Late Latin orphanus destitute, without parents < Greek orphanós bereaved; akin to Latin orbus bereaved
Related forms
orphanhood, noun
half-orphan, noun
unorphaned, adjective
Examples from the web for orphan
  • Vincent, and all that was known of her past was the fact of her being an orphan.
British Dictionary definitions for orphan

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
3.
(transitive) to deprive of one or both parents
Word Origin
C15: from Late Latin orphanus, from Greek orphanos; compare Latin orbus bereaved
Word Origin and History for orphan
n.

c.1300, from Late Latin orphanus "parentless child" (source of Old French orfeno, Italian orfano), from Greek orphanos "orphaned, without parents, fatherless," literally "deprived," from orphos "bereft," from PIE *orbho- "bereft of father," also "deprived of free status," from root *orbh- "to change allegiance, to pass from one status to another" (cf. Hittite harb- "change allegiance," Latin orbus "bereft," Sanskrit arbhah "weak, child," Armenian orb "orphan," Old Irish orbe "heir," Old Church Slavonic rabu "slave," rabota "servitude" (cf. robot), Gothic arbja, German erbe, Old English ierfa "heir," Old High German arabeit, German Arbeit "work," Old Frisian arbed, Old English earfoð "hardship, suffering, trouble"). As an adjective from late 15c.

v.

1814, from orphan (n.). Related: Orphaned; orphaning.

Slang definitions & phrases for orphan

orphan

noun

A model of a car, boat, computer, etc, which is no longer being manufactured, and for which spare parts are hard to find (1940s+)