fatherless

adj

Etymology: From Middle English faderles, federles, from Old English fæderlēas, from Proto-Germanic *fadērlausaz, equivalent to father + -less. Cognate with German vaterlos.

1. Without a (living) father.

   ““Homer’s Triple Bypass” has the potential to be the most depressing episode in the history of The Simpsons, if not television as whole. It is, after all, about a 36-year-old husband and father staring down death and the prospect of leaving his wife a young widow and his small children fatherless.”

2. Without a known author or inventor.