International Adoption Guide

It always amazes me how British media loves a story that denies the orphan crises. Rather then do a story about the atrocious state of affairs of the world's neglected children, it always wants to emphasis that these children are not orphans i.e. in the narrow term with two dead parents. "60 children lived there but only one was a 'real orphan'". These children are all social orphans, abandoned, neglected, driven out by poverty - they are Without Parental Care. A term which comes under the historical meaning of orphan from the 1300's Latin orphanus - Parentless Child.  Any exploration of the meaning of the word shows it is wider then two dead parents.

So journalists please take notes of accepted terms before you get so excited about your 'undercover' story that results in more children without parental care suffering as their homes come under your naive scrutiny.

orphan (n.)

c.1300, from Late Latin orphanus "parentless child" (source of Old French orfeno, Italian orfano), from Greek orphanos "orphaned, without parents, fatherless," literally "deprived," from orphos "bereft," from PIE *orbho- "bereft of father," also "deprived of free status," from root *orbh- "to change allegiance, to pass from one status to another" (cognates: Hittite harb- "change allegiance," Latin orbus "bereft," Sanskrit arbhah "weak, child," Armenian orb "orphan," Old Irish orbe "heir," Old Church Slavonic rabu "slave," rabota "servitude" (see robot), Gothic arbja, German erbe, Old English ierfa "heir," Old High German arabeit, German Arbeit "work," Old Frisian arbed, Old English earfoð "hardship, suffering, trouble"). As an adjective from late 15c.