orphan

English

/ˈɔːfən/, /ˈɔɹfən/

noun
Definitions
  • 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.
  • (figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.
  • (typography) A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.
  • (computing) Any unreferenced object.

Etymology

Derived from Latin orphanus (orphan) derived from Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (without parents, fatherless, orphan, orphaned) derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos (orphan), *h₃erbʰ- (change ownership, change allegiance status ownership, change evolve status, orphan, child slave servant).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*h₃erbʰ-

Gloss

change ownership, change allegiance status ownership, change evolve status, orphan, child slave servant

Concept
Semantic Field

Kinship

Ontological Category

Person/Thing

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms