Synonyms for orphan

Grammar : Noun

Spell : awr-fuh n

Phonetic Transcription : ˈɔr fən

Définition of orphan

Origin : 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.

noun child without parents

Example sentences :

She had ceased to think about the lad while she was giving this explanation of an orphan to her son.
Extract from : « Rico and Wiseli » by Johanna Spyri

At his birth he was an orphan, his father having died a few weeks previously.
Extract from : « Ridgeway » by Scian Dubh

It is the child of one dear, most dear to me; an orphan; I know not with whom else to place it.
Extract from : « Alice, or The Mysteries, Complete » by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

She was an orphan and unhappy, and on this day of triumph she felt the need of a family.
Extract from : « My Double Life » by Sarah Bernhardt

Do you know of any orphan with three or four hundred pound?'
Extract from : « Life And Adventures Of Martin Chuzzlewit » by Charles Dickens

Her name was Lucie Druon, and she was an inmate of an orphan asylum.
Extract from : « The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete » by Emile Zola

He is no kin to us; an orphan, or as good as one; no person has ever claimed him, or ever will.
Extract from : « The Green Satin Gown » by Laura E. Richards

"It means if I don't behave I have to go back to the orphan home," the girl said.
Extract from : « Pee-wee Harris » by Percy Keese Fitzhugh

So it's a technicality that you don't have to be loyal to an orphan home.
Extract from : « Pee-wee Harris » by Percy Keese Fitzhugh

We got £1, 1s., a guinea, which we sent to an orphan institution in London.
Extract from : « St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. V, August, 1878, No 10. » by Various

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019