Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Orphan

Or′phan

,
Noun.
[L.
orphanus
, Gr. [GREEK], akin to L.
orbus
. Cf.
Orb
a blank window.]
A child bereaved of both father and mother; sometimes, also, a child who has but one parent living.
Orphans’ court
(Law)
,
a court in some of the States of the Union, having jurisdiction over the estates and persons of orphans or other wards.
Bouvier.

Or′phan

,
Adj.
Bereaved of parents, or (sometimes) of one parent.

Or′phan

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Orphaned
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Orphaning
.]
To cause to become an orphan; to deprive of parents.
Young.

Webster 1828 Edition


Orphan

OR'PHAN

,
Noun.
[Gr.]
A child who is bereaved of father or mother or of both.

OR'PHAN

,
Adj.
Bereaved of parents.

Definition 2024


orphan

orphan

English

Noun

orphan (plural orphans)

  1. A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
    • 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 9, in Crime out of Mind:
      Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama. Irene was young, as pretty as a picture, fresh from a music academy in England. He was the scion of an ancient noble family; she an orphan without money or friends.
  2. A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
  3. A young animal with no mother.
  4. (figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
  5. (typography) A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
  6. (computing) Any unreferenced object.

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

orphan (not comparable)

  1. Deprived of parents (also orphaned).
    She is an orphan child.
  2. (by extension, figuratively) Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
    With its government funding curtailed, the gun registry became an orphan program.

Related terms

Verb

orphan (third-person singular simple present orphans, present participle orphaning, simple past and past participle orphaned)

  1. (transitive) To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive)
    What do you do when you come across two orphaned polar bear cubs?
  2. (transitive, computing) To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.
    When you removed that image tag, you orphaned the resized icon.
    Removing categories orphans pages from the main category tree.

Conjugation

References

  • "orphan" at OneLook Dictionary Search.