The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
ORPHAN
Definition of ORPHAN
noun
A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
Late Middle English, from Late Latin orphanus, from Ancient Greek ὀρφανός (orphanós, “without parents, fatherless”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃órbʰos. Cognate with Sanskrit अर्भ (árbha), Latin orbus (“orphaned”), Old Armenian որբ (orb, “orphan”), Old High German erbi, arbi (German Erbe (“heir”)), Old English ierfa (“heir”). More at erf.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
4 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
2nd
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
14.3%
of traced words share this origin (11,293)
How it is built
Same root, ORPHAN · 4 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names German, Old English, Sanskrit.
Every Proto-Indo-European word → · The Word DNA of OUTLIER →
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
ORPHAN in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 15 boards so far. 14 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 10, 30 May 2026. The most recent board was Day 160, 27 October 2026. It was on the latest finished board.
First found by a player on Day 10, 30 May 2026.
Built from these letters
ORPHAN starts with O and ends with N. Sorted, its letters read AHNOPR - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start ORPHAN
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 10
Could you have found ORPHAN?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 10 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER