Score

Maybe Scarlet toward the end?

But she was grown. Is a grown person an orphan? Webster's Concise dictionary says a CHILD whose parents are both dead. Last October my hubby said when his father died that he was now an orphan which struck me as very strange. I think he meant he was bereft.

I have never thought of an adult as an orphan. Is this just me?

I don't know. That's a good question. I mean most people in the general population outlive their parents so if we were to define "orphan" only as someone who has lost their parents, then that would include almost everyone.

I think being considered an "orphan" depends more on where the child is in their life emotionally. Maybe the more dependent the child is on their parent the more "orphaned" they are by the loss?

I thought a list with "orphaned" characters was interesting because so many books begin that way. It's sort of an opening through which interesting plotlines can take place. I guess a complete nuclear family provides less fodder for interesting plot?

I agree it is more interesting. I hope that people will hold to the old definition and not start including everyone who has lost their parents as an adult. I think a child who loses its parents really suffers and is in a whole different category.

#2 Secrets of the Realm is author circle jerk spam.

Yup.

deleted user wrote: "But she was grown. Is a grown person an orphan? Webster's Concise dictionary says a CHILD whose parents are both dead. Last October my hubby said when his father died that he was now an orphan whic..."

It's not just you. I always considered "orphan" to refer specifically to children. In fact, the dictionary defines it this way. Once a person reaches adulthood, if they lose their parents, they aren't orphans.

I think you qualify as an orphan if both your parents are dead by the time you're of age. Let's say, 19 or 20 or 21. However, if an adult child is disabled (rather severely) and subsequently her parents die, she might qualify as an orphan. Maybe it depends on the circumstances.

The list description is not really even accurate - you have to lose both parents to be orphaned. If you lose one parent, then you belong to a single-parent family.

I would say that the term orphan applies to any children below the age of 18 that lose their parents at a time when they need the most support. Usually both biological parents are dead so being abandoned or separated does not count.