foundling
pronunciation
How to pronounce foundling in British English:
UK [ˈfaʊndlɪŋ]
How to pronounce foundling in American English:
US [ˈfaʊndlɪŋ]
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- Noun:
- a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown
Word Origin
- foundling (n.)
- "deserted infant," c. 1300, from Middle English founden "found," past participle of finden (see find (v.)) + diminutive suffix -ling. Compare Dutch vondeling, German Findling. Middle English also had finding in this sense (late 14c.).
Example
- 1. Thomas coram 's foundling hospital opened in 1741 to look after the abandoned babies of unmarried mothers , attracting support from the cream of society .
- 2. Foundling wheels were an artefact of medieval times ; but they reappeared in 2000 in hamburg , where a lot of abandoned babies were dying .
- 3. In other pictures , thomson captured the sorry inmates of a " foundling " hospital where orphaned children were offered for free to " respectable people " , and a public street slide-show where the public could see images from exotic and faraway places often to gasps of amazement .