orphan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A child whose parents have both died.

   The charity builds homes for orphans in the region.

2. 2
   verb

   To cause a child to lose their parents (usually used in the passive).

   Thousands of children were orphaned by the war.

3. 3
   adj

   Having lost one's parents; left without parents.

   They adopted an orphan child from overseas.

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.

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