orphan

orphan — noun

IPA/ˈɔːfn/
KK[ˈɔrfən]IPA/ˈɔːrfn/
  • orphansingular
  • orphansplural

1. a child or young person with no living parents because both have died

1.nounC2
Definition

a child or young person with no living parents because both have died

Example

After the earthquake, the village school opened its doors to several orphans.

plural noun: several orphans

At twelve, Rosa became an orphan when both her parents died.

pattern: become an orphan

Common collocations
  • become an orphan
  • war orphan
  • young orphan
  • help an orphan
Synonyms
  • parentless child

    a clear descriptive phrase rather than the fixed dictionary word

  • waif

    literary and old-fashioned; often suggests a lonely or badly cared-for child

  • foundling

    a child who has been abandoned and found, not necessarily one whose parents died

  • ward

    an official or legal term for someone under another person's care, not always an orphan

Grammar Patterns

become an orphan

an orphan at age six

war orphan

Usage Note

Usually refers to a child, not to an adult who loses parents later in life. Common after become and with modifiers like war or orphaned.

Common Mistakes

My grandfather became an orphan at sixty.
My grandfather lost his parents when he was sixty.
Orphan usually refers to a child or young person.

orphan — verb

IPA/ˈɔː.fən/
KK[ˈɔrfən]IPA/ˈɔːr.fən/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Orphan is the normal word for a child whose mother and father have died. Parentless child is a plain descriptive phrase, often used when a writer wants to be especially clear. Waif is literary and old-fashioned, and it usually suggests a thin, lonely, or homeless child, so it adds emotion beyond orphan. Foundling is different: it means a baby or child who was abandoned and later found, so the parents may be unknown rather than dead. Ward is a legal or official word for someone under the care of a court or guardian, and a ward may or may not be an orphan. Say The charity helped several orphans, but The court made her a ward of the state.

orphan ↗parentless childwaif ↗foundling ↗ward ↗

Etymology

GreekLatinEnglish

Orphan came into English through Latin from an older Greek word meaning a child without parents. English first used it as a noun, and the verb developed later from that noun. The central idea has stayed the same throughout its history.