orphan
Sign in to savethumb|right|Orphans by Thomas Benjamin Kennington|Thomas Kennington, [[oil on canvas, 1885]]
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An orphan is a child whose parents have died or are unable to care for them. The term matters because orphaned children often face significant challenges in finding safe care, support, and stable living conditions.
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Article
12 sectionsContents
- Definitions
- History
- Populations
- Notable orphans
- In fiction
- Other examples
- In religious texts
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- United States
- External links
thumb|right|Orphans by Thomas Benjamin Kennington|Thomas Kennington, [[oil on canvas, 1885]]
An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages, such as Swedish, the term is "parentless" and more ambiguous about whether the parents are dead, unknown or absconded, but typically refers to a child or younger adult.