Definition of orphan - Reverso English Dictionary
Noun
1.
familychild whose parents are deceased
- The orphan was adopted by a loving family..
2.
animalsyoung animal without a mother
- The orphan was adopted by a nearby farmer.
3.
typographyTECH. US single line of a paragraph at the bottom of a pageTECH. US
- The editor fixed the orphan to improve the layout.
4.
technologyTECH. unreferenced object in computingTECH.
- The orphan was removed to free up memory.
Verb
1.
familydeprive a child of their parents
- The war orphaned many children.
2.
lossDated deprive of something vital or significantDated
- The new policy orphaned several projects of their funding..
3.
technologyTECH. make an object unreferenced in computingTECH.
- The update orphaned the old files.
Images of orphan

young animal without a mother 
single line of a paragraph at the bottom of a page
Expressions with orphan
💡 Discover popular phrases, idioms, collocations, or phrasal verbs. Click any expression to learn more, listen to its pronunciation, or save it to your favorites.
child whose parents died in a war
The charity supports war orphans from various conflicts.
dependent with living parents yet lacking care or support
After the arrest, the boy was treated as a social orphan by authorities.
medicinal drug for rare diseases with low demand
The company developed an orphan drug for a rare condition.
medicine for rare diseases with limited market
Orphan medicine is crucial for treating rare genetic disorders.
creative work whose copyright holders are unknown or cannot be found
Many old photographs are considered orphan works because their authors are untraceable..
stock considered safe with steady dividends
Widow and orphan stock is ideal for conservative investors.
disease too rare for profitable drug development
Cystic fibrosis is considered an orphan disease.
medicinal product for treating rare diseases
The company developed an orphan medicinal product for a rare condition.
webpage not linked to any other page
The orphan site was hard to find.
feature preventing single lines at page top or bottom
The software includes widow and orphan control for better formatting.
child with only one parent alive
After the accident, she became a half orphan.
place where orphans are housed and cared for
The orphan asylum was built in the 19th century.
Origin of orphan
Greek, orphanos (bereaved)
Terms with orphan included in their meaning
💡 A powerful way to uncover related words, idioms, and expressions linked by the same idea — and explore meaning beyond exact word matches.
Examples of orphan in a sentence
Orphan care programs are essential in many countries. The zoo took in the orphan after its mother died. Volunteers cared for the orphan until it was strong. The designer adjusted the text to remove the orphan. An orphan at the end of the chapter disrupted the flow. The program crashed due to an orphan.
Developers must handle orphans carefully. The earthquake orphaned hundreds of children. The disease had orphaned him by age six. The disaster orphaned many families of their homes. The budget cuts orphaned the program of essential resources. The software upgrade orphaned several modules. He accidentally orphaned the database entries.
View all translations of orphan
Click below to see the appropriate translations facing each meaning.
- French:orphelin, rendre orphelin, ...
- German:Waise, verwaisen lassen, ...
- Italian:orfano, rendere orfano, ...
- Spanish:huérfano, dejar huérfano, ...
- Portuguese:órfã, orfanar, ...
- Chinese:孤儿, 使成为孤儿, ...
- Japanese:孤児, 孤児にする, ...
- Arabic:يَتِيم, يَتَّمَ, ...
- Hebrew:יָתוֹם, לְיַתֵּם, ...
- Russian:сирота, осиротять, ...
- Ukrainian:сирота, осиротити, ...
- Hindi:अनाथ, अनाथ कर देना, ...

icon to discover related terms: analogies, antonyms, common collocates, words with same roots, umbrella terms… Try with happening or hunch.
icon next to the first example to see two additional options and learn to use new vocabulary naturally.
icon to save words you want to revisit. You can also save a specific meaning by clicking on the