or·phan (ôr f n)n. 1. a. A child whose parents are dead. b. A child who has been deprived of parental care and has not been adopted. 2. A young animal without a mother. 3. One that lacks support, supervision, or care: A lack of corporate interest has made the subsidiary an orphan. 4. An orphan technology or product. 5. a. A line of type beginning a new paragraph at the bottom of a column or page. b. A short line of type at the bottom of a paragraph, column, or page; a widow. adj. 1. Deprived of parents. 2. Intended for orphans: an orphan home. 3. Lacking support, supervision, or care. 4. Not developed or marketed, especially on account of being commercially unprofitable: "an aggregation of every orphan technology at the Pentagon, stuff that's been around for years that nobody would buy" (Harper's). tr.v. or·phaned, or·phan·ing, or·phans To deprive (a child or young animal) of a parent or parents. [Middle English, from Late Latin orphanus, from Greek orphanos, orphaned; see orbh- in Indo-European roots.] or phan·hood n. |
orphanhood - the condition of being a child without living parents; "his early orphanage shaped his character as an adult"Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
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