waif

Meaning

Noun

1. (British, archaic) An article of movable property which has been found, and of which the owner is not known, such as goods washed up on a beach or thrown away by an absconding thief; such items belong to the Crown, which may grant the right of ownership to them to a lord of a manor.
2. (figuratively) Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.
3. (figuratively) A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.
4. (broadly, figuratively) A very thin person.
5. (broadly, figuratively) A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but not persistently naturalized.

Verb

To cast aside or reject, and thus make a waif.

Opposite of

thin person

Synonyms

street child

stray

homeless child

homeless

homeless person

orphan

ragamuffin

urchin

juvenile vagrant

street children

foundling

street Arab

gamin

gamine

Translations

zwerver

Strandgut

nen desemparat

Heimatlose

Straßenkind

obdachloses Kind

έρμαιο

παιδί άστεγο

môme

🧒

bambino abbandonato

derelitto

naufrago

randagio

ritrovamento

trovatello

Pronounced as (IPA)

/weɪf/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: weif

Cognate with Middle English: wef

Cognate with Old English: wafian

Cognate with Old English: wefan

In summary

The noun is derived from Late Middle English weif (“ownerless property subject to seizure and forfeiture; the right of such seizure and forfeiture; revenues obtained from such seizure and forfeiture”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman waif, weif [and other forms] (compare Anglo-Latin waivum [and other forms], Medieval Latin waivium), possibly from Old French waif, a variant of gaif, gayf (“property that is lost and unclaimed; of property: lost and unclaimed”) (Norman) [and other forms], probably from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse veif (“flag; waving thing”), from Proto-Germanic *waif-, from Proto-Indo-European *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”).
The verb is derived from the noun.