foundling
捨て子
解説 Definition
親に捨てられた子供。特に身元不明で発見された赤ん坊を指す。
A foundling is a baby or young child who has been abandoned and then found by other people. This word is mostly used in historical, literary, or formal contexts.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
foundling は find の仲間だと押さえると覚えやすい。duckling の -ling と同じで「小さいもの・子ども」を作る形なので、直感的には「見つけられた小さな子」。ここでの found は establish の found ではなく、find の過去分詞系の感覚。単なる orphan が「親を失った子」なのに対し、foundling は「親に捨てられ、誰かに発見された子」。とくに身元不明の赤ん坊の場面で結びつけると定着しやすい。
Think of find, not found meaning "establish." The ending -ling often appears in words for something small or young, like duckling, so foundling can stick as "a found little child." That helps separate it from orphan. Orphan means a child without parents, while foundling stresses that the child was abandoned and then found.
例文
The foundling was discovered on the steps of the church wrapped in a blanket.
その捨て子は毛布にくるまれて教会の階段で発見された。
The novel tells the story of a foundling who rises from poverty to become a great leader.
その小説は、貧困から立ち上がり偉大な指導者となった捨て子の物語である。
In the 18th century, foundling hospitals were established to care for abandoned children.
18世紀には、捨て子を世話するための養育院が設立された。
foundling の類義語・関連語
類義語
foundling の語源・成り立ち Etymology
ゲルマン系の find に、名詞化・小型化の接尾辞 -ling が付いた語です。found は「見つかった」、-ling は「小さなもの」で、「見つけられた子」から捨て子を指すようになりました。関連語は find, finder。
Foundling comes from found, in the older sense of "found by chance," plus the suffix -ling. The suffix often meant a small being or a person connected with something. So the word originally meant "a little one that has been found," and it later became the usual term for a child discovered after being abandoned; find and finder are related.
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