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Orphan

//ˈɔːfən// adj, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Deprived of parents (also orphaned). not-comparable

    "She is an orphan child."

  2. 2
    Remaining after the removal of some form of support. broadly, figuratively, not-comparable

    "With its government funding curtailed, the gun registry became an orphan program."

Noun
  1. 1
    A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.

    "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. 2
    a young animal without a mother wordnet
  3. 3
    A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
  4. 4
    the first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column wordnet
  5. 5
    A young animal with no mother.
Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    a child who has lost both parents wordnet
  2. 7
    Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon. figuratively
  3. 8
    someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision wordnet
  4. 9
    A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
  5. 10
    Any unreferenced object.

    "An orphan isn't harmful in a language that has garbage collection, such as Java. However, reducing the number of orphans can be expected to improve code performance."

Verb
  1. 1
    To deprive of parents (used almost exclusively in the passive). transitive

    "What do you do when you come across two orphaned polar bear cubs?"

  2. 2
    deprive of parents wordnet
  3. 3
    To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to. transitive

    "When you removed that image tag, you orphaned the resized icon."

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

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.

See also for "orphan"

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