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orphan definition

or·phan (ôr′fən)

noun

a child whose father and mother are dead: sometimes applied to a child who has lost only one parent by death

Etymology: LL(Ec) orphanus < Gr orphanos < IE base *orbho-, orphan > L orbus, bereft, Ger erbe, inheritance, arbeit, work, Czech robotnik, serf

adjective

  1. being an orphan
  2. of or for orphans an orphan home
  3. of a product that is medically valuable but is not produced because it lacks a profitable market, as a drug for a rare disease

transitive verb

to cause to become an orphan orphaned by the war

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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