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Widows and orphans |
In typesetting, a widow is the final line of a paragraph if it falls at the top of the following page [or column] of text, separated from the remainder of the paragraph on the previous page [or column]. A related term, orphan, refers to the first line of a paragraph if it appears on its own at the bottom of a page [or column] with the remaining portion of the paragraph appearing on the following page [or column];1 in other words the first line of the paragraph has been "left behind" by the remaining portion of text.
In simpler terms, a widow is generally a single line of a paragraph appearing at the top of a page and an orphan is generally a single line of a paragraph appearing at the bottom of a page.
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One easy way to remember the difference between an orphan and a widow is to remember that orphans "have a future but no past," while widows "have a past but no future" just as an orphan or widow in life.2
Another way is to think of orphans as generally being younger than widows; thus, orphaned lines happen first, at the start of paragraphs (affecting and stranding the first line), and widowed lines happen last, at the end of paragraphs (affecting and stranding the last line). Orphaned lines appear at the "birth" (start) of paragraphs; widowed lines appear at the "death" (end) of paragraphs.
Writing guides generally suggest that a manuscript should have no widows and orphans3 even when avoiding them results in additional space at the bottom of a page or column. Some techniques for eliminating widows include:
An orphan is cured more easily, by inserting a blank line or forcing a page break to push the orphan line onto the next page to be with the rest of its paragraph. Such a cure may have to be undone if editing the text repositions the automatic page/column break.
Most full-featured word processors and page layout applications include a paragraph setting (or option) to automatically prevent widows and orphans. When the option is turned on, an orphan is forced to the top of the next page or column; and the line preceding a widow is forced to the next page or column with the last line. This automatic adjustment to a page's layout can be a source of frustration for someone who is unaware of why text is shifted from one page to the next.
The term "widow" can also be used to refer simply to an uncomfortably short (e.g., a single word or two very short words) final line of a paragraph. 4
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