orphan

Fetched 2026-10-26 (cache).

Synonyms: orphean, ophan, orhan, orpha, orphon

Antonyms: orphean, ophan, orhan, orpha, orphon

Related words from Datamuse; suggestions, not definitions.

Noun

1. A [[person]], especially a [[minor#Noun|minor]], both or (rarely) one of whose [[parent]]s have died.
2. A [[person]], especially a [[minor#Noun|minor]], whose parents have permanently abandoned them.
3. A [[young]] [[animal]] with no [[mother]].
4. {{lb|en|figuratively}} Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's [[demise#Noun|demise]] or decision to abandon.
5. {{lb|en|typography}} A [[single]] [[line]] of [[type]], beginning a [[paragraph]], at the [[bottom]] of a [[column]] or [[page]].
6. {{lb|en|computing}} Any [[unreferenced]] [[object]].

Adjective

1. [[deprive|Deprived]] of parents (also {{m|en|orphaned}}).
2. {{lb|en|by extension|figuratively}} Remaining after the removal of some form of [[support]].

Verb

1. {{lb|en|transitive}} To deprive of parents {{qualifier|used almost exclusively in the passive}}.
2. {{lb|en|transitive|computing}} To make [[unavailable]], as by removing the last remaining [[pointer]] or [[reference]] to.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wiktionary dump) · cached copy, not a rewrite.