What does "foundling" mean?

An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place.

What is a synonym for "foundling"?

Common synonyms include: abandoned infant, bonus, buried treasure, castaway, castoff, derelict.

Foundling

noun

noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place.
"foundling hospital"
2
a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

abandoned infant bonus buried treasure castaway castoff derelict

Example

More examples

"In foundling hospitals, and among the children brought up by parish charities, the mortality is still greater than among those of the common people."

Etymology

From Middle English foundlyng, fondeyng, variants of Middle English fyndling, fyndlyng. By surface analysis, found + -ling.

Related phrases

foundling wheel

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.