Daily Ancestorexpositus
Expositus (feminine exposita) is Latin for an abandoned child, an infant left to be found; filius expositus means an abandoned son.
Expositus means exposed, and as a noun an exposed infant: a baby left at a church door, a foundling home or a public place. Registers also use inventus or inventa, found, for the same thing.
The parents are usually unknown. Look for a note on where and when the child was found, which can be the only clue to its origins.
As seen in a recordLatin baptism register, 1790s
Infans expositus, inventus ad januam ecclesiae, baptizatus sub conditione
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "expositus." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/latin/expositus. Last checked 2026-10-10.