Meanings
nounorphaness (plural orphanesses)
plural orphanesses
- rareA female orphan.
Yaya is a poor orphaness, a sort of charity-case, and she definitely needs help.
1996, Femi Ojo-Ade, “Of Color, Class and Sex: the Novels of Michèle Lacrosil” (chapter VI), in Being Black, Being Human: More Essays on Black Culture, 1 edition, Obafemi Awolowo University Press Limited, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 1431 more example
Jimmy is twenty-one—grand-niece—ex-fathered by me, ex-mothered by Martha—orphaness to this day—orphaness to this day—get it? Very well.
1906, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Admiral” (chapter 2), in The Refuge of the Derelicts; republished in Fables of Man (The Mark Twain Papers; 7), Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 1972, page 179
Origin
From orphan + -ess (feminine suffix).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
orphaness. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orphaness
MLA
“orphaness.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orphaness. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “orphaness,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/orphaness.
Source: orphaness on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.