foundling
noun
Forms foundlings
- noun An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place. “foundling hospital”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English foundlyng, fondeyng, variants of Middle English fyndling, fyndlyng. By surface analysis, found + -ling.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A deserted or exposed infant; a child found without a parent or owner. Foundling hospital, a hospital for foundlings.
Etymology [OE. foundling, fundling; finden to find + - ling; cf. fündling, findling. See Find, v. t., and -ling.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “foundling”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details