English Dictionary

ORPHANAGE

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does orphanage mean? 

ORPHANAGE (noun)
  The noun ORPHANAGE has 2 senses:

1. the condition of being a child without living parentsplay

2. a public institution for the care of orphansplay

  Familiarity information: ORPHANAGE used as a noun is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


ORPHANAGE (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

The condition of being a child without living parents

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

orphanage; orphanhood

Context example:

his early orphanage shaped his character as an adult

Hypernyms ("orphanage" is a kind of...):

condition (a mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing)

Derivation:

orphan (deprive of parents)


Sense 2

Meaning:

A public institution for the care of orphans

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

orphanage; orphans' asylum

Hypernyms ("orphanage" is a kind of...):

institution (an establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated)

Derivation:

orphan (deprive of parents)


 Context examples 


Other children live in orphanages or with birth relatives until they can be adopted.

(Adoption, NIH)

He’ll crack a crib in Scotland one week, and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)



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