Etymograph

English

orphan

Orphan comes from Ancient Greek ὀρφανός ‘without parents, fatherless’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- ‘to change allegiance, status, ownership’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃erbʰ-‘to change allegiance, status, ownership’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃órbʰosreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀρφανόςorphanós‘without parents, fatherless’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEorphanus
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1956orphan

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃erbʰ-‘to change allegiance, status, ownership’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃órbʰosreconstructed
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὀρφανόςorphanós‘without parents, fatherless’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEorphanus
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1956orphan

Earliest quotation: 1956, Delano Ames: “Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama.…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- ‘to change allegiance, status, ownership’

orbit, erf, 15 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos

robot, bot, orb, 4 more

Today it means

noun A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- / orphan

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