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Victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan.
Galeazzo Ciano

Meaning of "orphan" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD ORPHAN

From Late Latin orphanus, from Greek orphanos; compare Latin orbus bereaved.
info
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF ORPHAN

orphan  [ˈɔːfən] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF ORPHAN

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Orphan is a verb and can also act as a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb orphan in English.

WHAT DOES ORPHAN MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Orphan

An orphan is a child whose parents are dead or have abandoned them permanently. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usually relevant. If she has gone, the offspring is an orphan, regardless of the father's condition. Adults can also be referred to as orphans, or adult orphans. However, survivors who reached adulthood before their parents died are normally not called orphans. It is a term generally reserved for children whose parents have died while they are too young to support themselves.

Definition of orphan in the English dictionary

The first definition of orphan in the dictionary is a child, one or both of whose parents are dead. Other definition of orphan is the first line of a paragraph separated from the rest of the paragraph by occurring at the foot of a page. Orphan is also to deprive of one or both parents.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO ORPHAN

PRESENT

Present
I orphan
you orphan
he/she/it orphans
we orphan
you orphan
they orphan
Present continuous
I am orphaning
you are orphaning
he/she/it is orphaning
we are orphaning
you are orphaning
they are orphaning
Present perfect
I have orphaned
you have orphaned
he/she/it has orphaned
we have orphaned
you have orphaned
they have orphaned
Present perfect continuous
I have been orphaning
you have been orphaning
he/she/it has been orphaning
we have been orphaning
you have been orphaning
they have been orphaning
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past
I orphaned
you orphaned
he/she/it orphaned
we orphaned
you orphaned
they orphaned
Past continuous
I was orphaning
you were orphaning
he/she/it was orphaning
we were orphaning
you were orphaning
they were orphaning
Past perfect
I had orphaned
you had orphaned
he/she/it had orphaned
we had orphaned
you had orphaned
they had orphaned
Past perfect continuous
I had been orphaning
you had been orphaning
he/she/it had been orphaning
we had been orphaning
you had been orphaning
they had been orphaning
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future
I will orphan
you will orphan
he/she/it will orphan
we will orphan
you will orphan
they will orphan
Future continuous
I will be orphaning
you will be orphaning
he/she/it will be orphaning
we will be orphaning
you will be orphaning
they will be orphaning
Future perfect
I will have orphaned
you will have orphaned
he/she/it will have orphaned
we will have orphaned
you will have orphaned
they will have orphaned
Future perfect continuous
I will have been orphaning
you will have been orphaning
he/she/it will have been orphaning
we will have been orphaning
you will have been orphaning
they will have been orphaning
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional
I would orphan
you would orphan
he/she/it would orphan
we would orphan
you would orphan
they would orphan
Conditional continuous
I would be orphaning
you would be orphaning
he/she/it would be orphaning
we would be orphaning
you would be orphaning
they would be orphaning
Conditional perfect
I would have orphan
you would have orphan
he/she/it would have orphan
we would have orphan
you would have orphan
they would have orphan
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been orphaning
you would have been orphaning
he/she/it would have been orphaning
we would have been orphaning
you would have been orphaning
they would have been orphaning
Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative
you orphan
we let´s orphan
you orphan
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Infinitive
to orphan
Past participle
orphaned
Present Participle
orphaning
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH ORPHAN


acalephan
ˌækəˈliːfən
deafen
ˈdɛfən
Grafen
ˈɡraːfən
griffon
ˈɡrɪfən
gryphon
ˈɡrɪfən
halfen
ˈhɑːfən
Hohenstaufen
ˈhəʊənˌʃtaʊfən
hyphen
ˈhaɪfən
ibuprofen
aɪˈbjuːprəʊfən
often
ˈɒfən
roughen
ˈrʌfən
siphon
ˈsaɪfən
soften
ˈsɒfən
stiffen
ˈstɪfən
syphon
ˈsaɪfən
thermosiphon
ˌθɜːməʊˈsaɪfən
toughen
ˈtʌfən
turfen
ˈtɜːfən
unberufen
ˌʌnbɪˈruːfən
Xenophon
ˈzɛnəfən

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE ORPHAN

orotund
orotundity
Orozco
orphanage
orphanhood
orphanism
orpharion
Orphean
orpheoreon
Orpheus
Orpheus in the Underworld
Orphic
orphically
Orphism
Orphistic
orphrey
orphreyed
orpiment
orpin
orpine

WORDS THAT END LIKE ORPHAN

adhan
afghan
Callaghan
chrysophan
Elizabethan
Foshan
Jonathan
khan
leviathan
lohan
Morbihan
Nathan
nothing less than
other than
Rajasthan
Shan
than
tryptophan
Vaughan
Wuhan

Synonyms and antonyms of orphan in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «orphan» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF ORPHAN

Find out the translation of orphan to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of orphan from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «orphan» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

孤儿
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

huérfano
570 millions of speakers

English

orphan
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

अनाथ
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

يَتِيمٌ
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

сирота
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

órfão
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অনাথ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

orphelin
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Anak yatim
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Waisenkind
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

孤児
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

고아
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Yatim piatu
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

trẻ mồ côi
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அனாதை
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

अनाथ
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

yetim
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

orfano
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

sierota
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

сирота
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

orfan
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ορφανό
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

wees
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

föräldralöst barn
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

foreldreløst barn
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of orphan

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «ORPHAN»

The term «orphan» is very widely used and occupies the 8.766 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
96
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «orphan» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of orphan
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «orphan».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «ORPHAN» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «orphan» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «orphan» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about orphan

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «ORPHAN»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word orphan.
1
John Berger
Autobiography begins with a sense of being alone. It is an orphan form.
2
David Josiah Brewer
What single organization has done more for the orphan than the Catholic Church? What one, through hospital and asylum, more for the sick and afflicted? If you were to select a single face and form as the typical expression of the great thought of charity and kindness, whose would you select other than the face and form of a Sister of Charity?
3
Bill Bryson
You don't have to know anything about baseball to respond to Babe Ruth because he's just this magnificent human being. And a really good story because he was this kid who grew up essentially as an orphan, you know, had a tough life, and then he became the most successful baseball player ever. But he was also a really good guy.
4
Red Buttons
If I lose show business - I'll really be an orphan!
5
Steven Curtis Chapman
If only 7 percent of the 2 billion Christians in the world would care for a single orphan in distress, there would effectively be no more orphans. If everybody would be willing to simply do something to care for one of these precious treasures, I think we would be amazed by just how much we could change the world.
6
Steven Curtis Chapman
I did nothing to deserve God's love; in fact, I was living as an orphan, without hope. Yet God chose to pursue a relationship with me, and through the death of his son Jesus, I was adopted into God's family.
7
Galeazzo Ciano
Victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan.
8
Barbara Corcoran
I was a hot-dog stand lady, I was an orphan housemother, I was a waitress 3 or 4 times. All of those jobs did not have good bosses. They basically told you what to do, when to do and when to hop. And I just didn't like that very much.
9
Jamie Cullum
My maternal granddad, Leonard, was full of amazing stories. He was an orphan, with 11 or 12 brothers and sisters, and he used to tell us about growing up near the Irrawaddy river and how one brother was eaten by a crocodile.
10
Trevor Dunn
I feel akin to the Platypus. An orphan in a family. A swimmer, a recluse. Part bird, part fish, part lizard.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «ORPHAN»

Discover the use of orphan in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to orphan and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Orphan Train: A Novel
Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience, second chances, and unexpected friendship.
Christina Baker Kline, 2013
2
Orphan Trains: The Story of Charles Loring Brace and the ...
A powerful blend of history, biography, and adventure, Orphans Trains remains the definitive work on this little-known episode in American history.
Stephen O'Connor, 2004
3
Orphan Texts: Victorian Orphans, Culture and Empire
In doing so, Laura Peters considers certain canonical texts alongside lesser known works from popular culture in order to establish the context in which discourses of orphanhood operated.
Laura Peters, 2000
4
Children of the Orphan Trains
Recounts the experiences of abandoned, orphaned, or homeless children from city orphanages in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were sent out by the trainload to find families that would adopt them or take them as workers.
Holly Littlefield, 2001
5
Orphan Train Rider: One Boy's True Story
Taking place between 1854 and 1930, when more than 200,000 orphaned children were sent west on orphan trains to find new homes, this true-life story describes one boy's journey through foster homes, adoption agencies, and homeless shelters.
Andrea Warren, 1998
6
European Respiratory Monograph 54: Orphan Lung Diseases
However, as a specialist, it is necessary to identify and confirm such a diagnosis in a patient. This Monograph comprehensively covers the most common and/or complex of these orphan lung diseases.
Jean-Francois Cordier, 2011
7
Orphan: A True Story of Abandonment, Abuse, and Redemption
This poignant moving story is true, sharp, and motivational and it will deeply affect the hearts and minds of all who read it.
Roger Dean Kiser, 2001
8
The Orphan of Ellis Island: A Time-Travel Adventure
For use in schools and libraries only. During a school trip to Ellis Island, Dominick Avaro, a ten-year-old foster child, travels back in time to 1908 Italy and accompanies two young emigrants to America.
Elvira Woodruff, 2000
9
The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction
Two years after the orphan incident, the U.S. Supreme Court had rati~ed a terrible injustice, and the Clifton- Morenci Anglos were on their way to establishing thoroughgoing racial segregation. Forty years after the orphan incident, the future ...
Linda Gordon, 2011
10
Orphan Warriors: Three Manchu Generations and the End of the ...
The book reveals that the Manchus were not "sinicized," but that they were growing in consciousness of their separate ethnicity in response to changes in their own position and in Chinese attitudes toward them.
Pamela Kyle Crossley, 1990

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «ORPHAN»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term orphan is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Orphan owls take wing at Lake Wheeler
With his wings proudly spread, an orphaned screech owl took his first flaps as a wild adult Saturday, nursed to full strength, free to soar into the ... «News & Observer, Jul 15»
2
Historians hoping to unearth Hobart's orphan graves with …
Nearly two centuries ago two orphan schools at Hobart's St John's Park in New Town were home to hundreds of underprivileged children. «ABC Online, Jul 15»
3
Johnny Depp bottle feeds a tiny orphan bat named 'Jackie Sparrow'
The clinic also shared another snap of the actor and the baby flying fox, with a special pacifier designed to align with the pirate theme of ... «Daily Mail, Jul 15»
4
Review: 'The Small Backs of Children,' by Lidia Yuknavitch; the …
In this violent landscape, a girl appears, fleeing in winter, an orphan who has seen her family vaporized in a bomb blast as the war is winding ... «Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jul 15»
5
Orphan Grain Train plans building event
The Lutheran-based Indiana branch of the Orphan Grain Train outreach ministry will celebrate its new headquarters and warehouse in ... «The Republic, Jul 15»
6
Orphan gas, oil wells a cause for concern: DEP
They are called orphan wells and they are a concern in areas of the ... there were 200,000 orphan and abandoned wells in Pennsylvania, said ... «PennLive.com, Jul 15»
7
UPDATE: Ziopharm Oncology's (ZIOP) Malignant Glioma Treatment …
Ziopharm Oncology's Adenoviral vector-RheoSwitch Therapeutic System-human interleukin 12 + veledimex has received FDA orphan drug ... «StreetInsider.com, Jul 15»
8
What shows will you make sure to binge before Emmy night …
Of the shows I watch, I need to finish "Orphan Black." I'll look at "Homeland" just because the hype was in a way confirmed by the industry. «GoldDerby, Jul 15»
9
How Tatiana Maslany's Emmy Win Could Hurt Orphan Black Season 4
But how exactly will this Emmy nomination (and probable win, if the judges have any sense) affect Orphan Black? And is it necessarily a good ... «moviepilot.com, Jul 15»
10
Hot Clicks: Special needs orphan from China meets her new family …
KHQ - A story that Houston news station KHOU did about an orphaned little girl from China has gone viral. 6-year-old Lucy has down syndrome ... «KHQ Right Now, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Orphan [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/orphan>. Mar 2023 ».
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