foundling means An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 84 out of 100.
Why this word is great
FOUNDLING — [Noun] An infant or child of unknown parentage, discovered and cared for by others. From Middle English *found(e)ling*, a variant of *fyndling*, from the verb *founden* (an early form of 'find') + the diminutive suffix *-ling*, marking the little one who is found. Unlike an orphan, whose parents are known to be deceased, or an adoptee, whose status is defined by legal contract, a foundling is defined by a primal scene of absence and chance—the act of being left, then being found. It is the swaddled bundle on the cathedral step in the pewter dawn; the faint cry from a thicket that halts the traveler; the silent child in the workhouse, whose origin story is a blank page. Every foundling is a testament to a double mystery: the reason for the abandonment, and the grace of the unlooked-for rescue.
noun
- An abandoned child, left by its parent(s), often a baby left at a convent or similar safe place.“foundling hospital”