Standard Lemma guide

foundling

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: F AW1 N D L IH0 NG Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • foundling hospital

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a child who has been abandoned and whose parents are unknown

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: abandoned infant

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: baby, babe, infant

History

Etymology

From Middle English foundlyng, fondeyng, variants of Middle English fyndling, fyndlyng. By surface analysis, found + -ling.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: لَقِيط (laqīṭ) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Arabic: مَلْقُوط (malqūṭ) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Arabic: لقيط (laqīṭ) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Armenian: ընկեցիկ (ənkecʻik) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Azerbaijani: tapdıq — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Bulgarian: подхвърлено дете (podhvǎrleno dete) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Czech: nalezenec — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Danish: hittebarn — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Dutch: vondeling — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Finnish: löytölapsi — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • French: enfant trouvé — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Galician: achadizo — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Galician: expósito — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • German: Findelkind — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Greek: έκθετο (éktheto) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Hungarian: lelenc — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Hungarian: talált gyermek — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Italian: trovatello — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Macedonian: најденче (najdenče) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: funnebarn — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: finning — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Polish: znajda — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Portuguese: exposto — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Portuguese: abandonado — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Portuguese: enjeitado — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Russian: найдёныш (najdjónyš) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Russian: подки́дыш (podkídyš) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: на̀хоче — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: на̀ход — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: находник — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: нахоткиња — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: nàhoče — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: nàhod — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: nahodnik — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Serbo-Croatian: nahotkinja — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Slovak: nájdenec — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Spanish: expósito — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Swedish: hittebarn — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Ottoman Turkish: بولنمش چوجق (bulunmuş çocuk) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Ottoman Turkish: متروك چوجق (metruk çocuk) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Ottoman Turkish: لقیطه (lakita) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Ukrainian: знaйдa (znajda) — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Vietnamese: trẻ em bị bỏ rơi — abandoned child, left by its parent
  • Welsh: plentyn cael — abandoned child, left by its parent
Real reading context

foundling in complete knowledge articles