also: みなしご
noun, noun which may take the genitive case particle 'no'
A child who has lost one or both parents, especially a child left without parental care. 孤児 is the standard Sino-Japanese form; みなしご is a more native-sounding variant.
She lost her parents when she was young and became an orphan.
The organization continues to support orphans.
person without friends or allies; isolated person
Only with reading こじ
Figurative use, read こじ: someone left without friends, allies, supporters, or a group to belong to. This is more limited than the literal “orphan” sense.
After losing his faction, the legislator became isolated within the party.
Many children became orphans because of the war.
They raised the orphan as their adopted child.
The accident left the children orphaned.
orphan works
Kana spelling is a practical way to write the native word みなしご and avoids the irregularity of みなし子.
Mixed kana-kanji spelling for みなしご; it has irregular kanji usage.
Attested short kanji form with the special reading みなしご; rare and mainly useful for recognition.