ORPHAN  , the

term used of one who has lost both parents by death, sometimes of one who has lost father or mother only . In Law, an orphan is such a person who is under age . The Late Lat. orphanus, from which the word, chiefly owing to its use in the Vulgate, was adopted into English, is a transliteration of 6p4av6s in the same sense, the original meaning being " bereft of," " destitute," classical Lat. orbus . The Old English word for an orphan was steel pcild, stepchild . By the custom of the city of London, the lord mayor and aldermen, in the Court of Orphans, have the guardianship of the children still under age of deceased freemen . Orphans' courts exist for the guardian-ship of orphans and administration of their estates in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the United States . In other states these are performed by officers of the Probate Court, known as " surrogates," or by other titles .