[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

orphan \or"phan\, n. l. orphanus, gr. ?, akin to l. orbus. cf.
   orb a blank window.
   a child bereaved of both father and mother; sometimes, also,
   a child who has but one parent living.
   1913 webster

   orphans' court law, a court in some of the states of the
      union, having jurisdiction over the estates and persons of
      orphans or other wards. --bouvier.
      1913 webster
see also:
orb orphans' court 

[2] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

orphan \or"phan\, a.
   bereaved of parents, or sometimes of one parent.
   1913 webster

[3] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

orphan \or"phan\, v. t. imp.  p. p. orphaned; p. pr.  vb.
   n. orphaning.
   to cause to become an orphan; to deprive of parents. --young.
   1913 webster
see also:
orphaned orphaning 

[4] : WordNet (r) 2.0

orphan
     adj : deprived of parents by death or desertion syn: orphaned
     n 1: a child who has lost both parents
     2: someone or something who lacks support or care or
        supervision
     3: the first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line
        of a page or column
     4: a young animal without a mother
     v : deprive of parents
see also:
orphaned 

[5] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

39 moby thesaurus words for "orphan":
   abandoned, alone, bereave, cast-off, castaway, castoff, derelict,
   discard, disregarded, dogie, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam, forsaken,
   foundling, heir, ignored, jetsam, junk, lagan, leave, leave behind,
   lost, neglected, orphaned, parentless, refuse, reject, relict,
   rubbish, slighted, solitary, successor, survivor, trash, waif,
   waifs and strays, wastrel, widow, widower

[6] : Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001)

orphan n. unix a process whose parent has died; one inherited by
   `init1'. compare zombie.


see also:
zombie 

[7] : Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

orphan. a minor or infant who has lost both of his or her parents. sometimes 
the term is applied to such a person who has lost only one of his or her 
parents. 3 mer. 48; 2 sim.  stu. 93; lo  man. inst. b. 1, t. 2, c. 1. see 
hazzard's register of pennsylvania, vol. 14, pages 188, 1 89, for a 
correspondence between the hon. joseph hopkinson and ex-president j. q. 
adams as to the meaning of the word orphan, and rob. 247. 

[8] : THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993)

orphan, n.  a living person whom death has deprived of the power of
filial ingratitude -- a privation appealing with a particular
eloquence to all that is sympathetic in human nature.  when young the
orphan is commonly sent to an asylum, where by careful cultivation of
its rudimentary sense of locality it is taught to know its place.  it
is then instructed in the arts of dependence and servitude and
eventually turned loose to prey upon the world as a bootblack or
scullery maid.

Orphan >> O Words
Orphan, definition of term: Orphan
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