| English Dictionary |
ORPHANAGE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| 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 parents
2. a public institution for the care of orphans
Familiarity information: ORPHANAGE used as a noun is rare.
Dictionary entry details
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)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"If a forest catches fire, both the dry and the wet will burn." (Afghanistan proverb)
"A wise man associating with the vicious becomes an idiot; a dog traveling with good men becomes a rational being." (Arabic proverb)
"Those who had some shame are dead." (Egyptian proverb)