— orphanhood , n.
/awr"feuhn/ , n.
1. a child who has lost both parents through death, or, less commonly, one parent.
2. a young animal that has been deserted by or has lost its mother.
3. a person or thing that is without protective affiliation, sponsorship, etc.: The committee is an orphan of the previous administration.
4. Print.
a. (esp. in word processing) the first line of a paragraph when it appears alone at the bottom of a page.
b. widow (def. 3b).
adj.
5. bereft of parents.
6. of or for orphans: an orphan home.
7. not authorized, supported, or funded; not part of a system; isolated; abandoned: an orphan research project.
8. lacking a commercial sponsor, an employer, etc.: orphan workers.
v.t.
9. to deprive of parents or a parent through death: He was orphaned at the age of four.
10. Informal. to deprive of commercial sponsorship, an employer, etc.: The recession has orphaned many experienced workers.
[ 1425-75; late ME (n.) orphanus destitute, without parents orphanós bereaved; akin to L orbus bereaved ]