102,854
edits
Changes
From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with 'File:lighterstill.jpg ==Etymology== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Late Latin orphan...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Late Latin orphanus, from [[Greek]] orphanos; akin to Old High German erbi inheritance, [[Latin]] orbus orphaned
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a child deprived by [[death]] of one or usually both [[parents]]
*2 : a young [[animal]] that has lost its [[mother]]
*3 : one deprived of some [[protection]] or advantage <orphans of the storm>
*4 : a first line (as of a paragraph) separated from its related [[text]] and appearing at the bottom of a printed page or column
==Description==
An '''orphan''' (from the Greek ὀρφανός) is a [[child]] permanently bereaved of his or her [[parents]]. In common usage, only a [[child]] (or the young of an [[animal]]) who has lost both parents is called an orphan. However, adults can also be referred to as orphans, or "adult orphans".
In certain [[animal]] [[species]] where the father typically abandons the [[mother]] and young at or prior to [[birth]], the young will be called orphans when the mother dies regardless of the condition of the [[father]].
Various [[groups]] use [[different]] definitions to identify orphans. One legal definition used in the United States is a minor bereft through "[[death]] or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both [[parents]]".
In the common use, an orphan does not have any [[surviving]] [[parent]] to care for him or her. However, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Children%27s_Fund United Nations Children's Fund] (UNICEF), [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_United_Nations_Programme_on_HIV_and_AIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS] (UNAIDS), and other [[groups]] label any child that has lost one parent as an orphan. In this approach, a maternal orphan is a child whose [[mother]] has died, a paternal orphan is a child whose [[father]] has died, and a double orphan has lost both [[parents]]. This [[contrasts]] with the older use of half-orphan to describe children that had lost only one parent.
==In Literature==
Orphaned characters are extremely common as [[literary]] protagonists, especially in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_literature children]'s and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_literature fantasy literature]. The lack of [[parents]] leaves the characters to pursue more interesting and [[adventurous]] lives, by freeing them from [[familial]] [[obligations]] and [[controls]], and depriving them of more prosaic lives. It creates characters that are self-contained and introspective and who strive for [[affection]]. Orphans can [[metaphorically]] search for [[self]]-[[understanding]] through attempting to know their [[roots]]. [[Parents]] can also be allies and [[sources]] of aid for [[children]], and removing the parents makes the character's [[difficulties]] more severe. Parents, furthermore, can be irrelevant to the theme a [[writer]] is trying to [[develop]], and orphaning the character frees the [[writer]] from the [[necessity]] to depict such an irrelevant [[relationship]]; if one [[parent]]-[[child]] [[relationship]] is important, removing the other parent prevents complicating the [[necessary]] [[relationship]]. All these characteristics make orphans attractive characters for [[authors]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan]
[[Category: Sociology]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
==Etymology==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English], from Late Latin orphanus, from [[Greek]] orphanos; akin to Old High German erbi inheritance, [[Latin]] orbus orphaned
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/15th_Century 15th century]
==Definitions==
*1 : a child deprived by [[death]] of one or usually both [[parents]]
*2 : a young [[animal]] that has lost its [[mother]]
*3 : one deprived of some [[protection]] or advantage <orphans of the storm>
*4 : a first line (as of a paragraph) separated from its related [[text]] and appearing at the bottom of a printed page or column
==Description==
An '''orphan''' (from the Greek ὀρφανός) is a [[child]] permanently bereaved of his or her [[parents]]. In common usage, only a [[child]] (or the young of an [[animal]]) who has lost both parents is called an orphan. However, adults can also be referred to as orphans, or "adult orphans".
In certain [[animal]] [[species]] where the father typically abandons the [[mother]] and young at or prior to [[birth]], the young will be called orphans when the mother dies regardless of the condition of the [[father]].
Various [[groups]] use [[different]] definitions to identify orphans. One legal definition used in the United States is a minor bereft through "[[death]] or disappearance of, abandonment or desertion by, or separation or loss from, both [[parents]]".
In the common use, an orphan does not have any [[surviving]] [[parent]] to care for him or her. However, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Children%27s_Fund United Nations Children's Fund] (UNICEF), [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_United_Nations_Programme_on_HIV_and_AIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS] (UNAIDS), and other [[groups]] label any child that has lost one parent as an orphan. In this approach, a maternal orphan is a child whose [[mother]] has died, a paternal orphan is a child whose [[father]] has died, and a double orphan has lost both [[parents]]. This [[contrasts]] with the older use of half-orphan to describe children that had lost only one parent.
==In Literature==
Orphaned characters are extremely common as [[literary]] protagonists, especially in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_literature children]'s and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_literature fantasy literature]. The lack of [[parents]] leaves the characters to pursue more interesting and [[adventurous]] lives, by freeing them from [[familial]] [[obligations]] and [[controls]], and depriving them of more prosaic lives. It creates characters that are self-contained and introspective and who strive for [[affection]]. Orphans can [[metaphorically]] search for [[self]]-[[understanding]] through attempting to know their [[roots]]. [[Parents]] can also be allies and [[sources]] of aid for [[children]], and removing the parents makes the character's [[difficulties]] more severe. Parents, furthermore, can be irrelevant to the theme a [[writer]] is trying to [[develop]], and orphaning the character frees the [[writer]] from the [[necessity]] to depict such an irrelevant [[relationship]]; if one [[parent]]-[[child]] [[relationship]] is important, removing the other parent prevents complicating the [[necessary]] [[relationship]]. All these characteristics make orphans attractive characters for [[authors]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan]
[[Category: Sociology]]
[[Category: Languages and Literature]]
