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Prolagus commented on the word brephotrophium
Beautiful Latin word with a bitter meaning: "hospital for foundlings" (and indigent children).
In Italian brefotrofio is generally used as a synonym of orfanotrofio (orphanage).
October 2, 2008
bilby commented on the word brephotrophium
The most amazing thing for me about these places was that they often came to have a kind of 'postal slot' in the door so babies could be dropped off anonymously. Orphanages were very much driven by the stigma of having a child out of wedlock, so the way babies were received had to preserve anonymity of the relinquishing mother. Rather than have babies 'left lying on the doorstep', orphanages put in the kind of door where an infant could be slid through into a cradle without the mother being seen.
October 2, 2008