orphan
Meanings
Plural: orphan, orphaned, orphans
Noun
- a child who has lost both parents
- someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision
- the first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column
- a young animal without a mother
- A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
- A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
- A young animal with no mother.
- Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
- A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
- Any unreferenced object.
Verb
- deprive of parents
- To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive)
- To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.
Adj
- Deprived of parents (also orphaned).
- Remaining after the removal of some form of support.
Origin / 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
Scrabble Score: 11
orphan is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordorphan is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
orphan is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 12
orphan is a valid Words With Friends word