A child who has been found abandoned and whose parents are unknown.
From Middle English 'foundling,' derived from 'found' (past tense of 'find') + '-ling' (diminutive suffix meaning 'little one'). The term appeared during medieval times when abandoned children were common.
Foundling hospitals were major institutions in medieval Europe, and many famous people like Leonardo da Vinci and Alexander Hamilton were foundlings—the word carries centuries of human stories of loss and survival.
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