Follow “orphan” through time. Which part surprised you? #words #vocabulary
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A WORD’S STORY: Where did “orphan” come from?. “orphan” means: Meaning: A child who has lost both parents. Swipe to see how it got that meaning.
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WHERE IT BEGAN: First, the origin of “orphan”. English borrowed orphan through Anglo-French and Late Latin orphanus from Greek orphanos, a child left without parents. The reconstructed Indo-European family concerned someone bereft or transferred after a death.
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THE CONNECTION: Here’s the connection. The word broadened from a parentless child to anything deprived of support or connection. Printers call a paragraph's first line stranded at the bottom of a page an orphan, while technology can leave files and processes orphaned.
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NOW YOU KNOW: “orphan”. Say it: /ˈɔɹfən/ Meaning: A child who has lost both parents. Try five words in the free daily game: lexifour.com. Follow for another word story.