Definition of ORPHAN

Examples of orphan in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Beth Harmon is the fictional creation of novelist Walter Tevis from his 1983 novel The Queen’s Gambit about an orphan chess prodigy. — Aaron Pressman, Fortune, "Why everyone’s so angry about Google’s new app icons," 30 Oct. 2020 Chief among these are an unnamed orphan, call him the Boy (Jahzir Bruno, sweetly sensitive), and his loving grandmother (Octavia Spencer), who form a wee bulwark against witches who appear fair but are most foul. ... — Mary Colurso | Mcolurso@al.com, al, "What reviewers are saying about ‘The Witches,’ set in Alabama," 25 Oct. 2020 The Life Before Us by Romain Gary, the drama stars Loren as Madame Rosa, an elderly Holocaust survivor who takes in a 12-year-old Senegalese orphan boy named Momo (Ibrahima Gueye). — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Sophia Loren Returns to Film with Her First New Movie Role in a Decade," 21 Oct. 2020 Steve, who slept in a guesthouse on the family compound, called himself an orphan. — Jesse Hyde, Town & Country, "The Strange Last Days of Steve Bing," 20 Oct. 2020 The film focuses on Charlie, an orphan whose grandmother (Octavia Spencer) tries to protect him from the evil forces. — Rodney Ho, chicagotribune.com, "8 new scary films and TV shows streaming this month," 20 Oct. 2020 Disney's 20th Century Studios released the new trailer for The Empty Man, another misfit orphan from the days of 20th Century Fox. — Nick Romano, EW.com, "The Empty Man trailer brings a new supernatural boogeyman to theaters (yes, theaters)," 16 Oct. 2020 Sanchez then shelved his dreams of becoming a professional ballplayer in order to raise his three orphan siblings. — Mario Ariza, sun-sentinel.com, "El Jabao: The greatest Cuban crime syndicate you’ve never heard of.," 3 Oct. 2020 Two orphan mountain lion kittens from California have officially made their forever home in Arizona after an ambitious attempt to foster them in the wild was unsuccessful. — Shaena Montanari, The Arizona Republic, "How 2 orphan baby mountain lions from California found a home in Scottsdale," 3 Oct. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Parents of deer and rabbits typically interact with their young at dawn and dusk, which can leave the impression that the young are orphaned. — cleveland, "Baby animals on their own are rarely orphaned, wildlife experts say," 3 June 2020 Galdikas continues to observe and care for the Borneo orangutans, many orphaned because of logging and poaching. — Los Angeles Times, "We’re worse off this Earth Day than any before. Watch these 7 TV shows to feel hopeful," 22 Apr. 2020 Set in the early 19th century, Michael Crummey’s fifth novel is a brilliant, harrowing, and supremely moving tale of Evered and Ada, orphaned at ages 11 and 9 on an isolated cove in Newfoundland. — Katherine A. Powers, Washington Post, "Listen up! Our critic picks three new audiobooks for your playlist.," 21 Jan. 2020 Set in contemporary Germany and France, and recently translated into English, the story centers on three siblings — Jules, Martin and Liz Moreau — who are orphaned by the sudden death of their parents. — BostonGlobe.com, "The Lager Queen of Minnesota," 27 Sep. 2019 Instead of grizzled frontiersmen, the story turns on two siblings, Lucy and Sam, orphaned during the Gold Rush. — Mark Athitakis, USA TODAY, "Review: C Pam Zhang's ambitious novel turns the Western on its head with Chinese myth," 6 Apr. 2020 With no formal crisis plan, Mayor Matthew Clarkson turned to volunteers collect clothing, food, and monetary donations; to pitch a makeshift hospital; and to build a home for 191 children temporarily or permanently orphaned by the epidemic. — Katherine A. Foss, Smithsonian Magazine, "How Epidemics of the Past Forced Americans to Promote Health—and Ended Up Improving Life in This Country," 2 Apr. 2020 Mackenzie Davis stars as the young governess, Kate, who leaves behind her life in Seattle out of a desire to help a wealthy young girl, orphaned and abandoned by her last teacher. — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, "Tiffany Haddish’s ‘Like a Boss’ and ‘The Turning’ top new releases to watch at home," 7 Apr. 2020 Since 2009, Linda has claimed 24 abandoned or orphaned babies and provided financial and emotional support to families experiencing infant loss as the leader of He Knows Your Name Ministry. — Holly V. Hays, Indianapolis Star, "Born close to heaven: The short, beautiful life of Baby Abigail," 26 Mar. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'orphan.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for orphan

Noun

Middle English orphan, orphen, borrowed from Anglo-French & Late Latin; Anglo-French orphayn, borrowed from Late Latin orphanus, borrowed from Greek orphanós "left without parents, child without parents," derivative (with -anos, noun and adjective suffix) of *orphos "orphan," going back to Indo-European *h₃órbhos "person or property turned over (as after a death)," whence also Armenian orb "orphan," Latin orbus "deprived by death of a relative, bereaved, orphan," Old Church Slavic rabŭ "slave," also (from post-Indo-European *orbhós "one having the inheritance, heir," whence *orbhii̯o- "of the heir") Old Irish orpe, orbae "patrimony, heritage," Old English ierfe "inheritance," Old Saxon erƀi, Old High German erbi, Gothic arbi, and (from Germanic *arbijōn- "heir") Old English ierfa "heir," Old High German erbo, Gothic arbja, runic Norse arbija; Indo-European *h₃órbhos perhaps derivative of a verbal base *h₃erbh- "turn, be turned over, undergo transfer" — more at orb entry 1

Verb

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