waif
/weɪf/
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.35 in modern English
Meaning
noun
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.
British usage; Archaic
noun
Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.
noun
A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.
noun
A very thin person, especially a young one.
noun
A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but not persistently naturalized.
Example Sentences
- "waifs and strays"
- "But vvhat a vvretched, and diſconſolate Hermitage is that Houſe, vvhich is not viſited by thee [God], and vvhat a VVayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?"
- "Tenderly Kala nursed her little waif, wondering silently why it did not gain strength and agility as did the little apes of other mothers. It was nearly a year from the time the little fellow came into her possession before he would walk alone, and as for climbing—my, but how stupid he was!"
- "Only an old woman, bloated, disheveled and bleared. / Far-wandered waif of other days, / Huddles for sleep in a doorway, / Homeless."
- "When we had done all the things there were to do, he passed out and I clung to his reassuringly solid, soft stomach—paternal, so different to the indie waifs—and cried."
- "It is true that Guy, Count of Ponthieu, holds fief under me, but I have no control over the laws of his realm. And by those laws, he hath right of life and death over all stranded and waifed on his coast."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *weyp-, weif, waif, -, veif, *waif-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /weɪf/
- British English: /weɪf/
Usage
- British usage
- Archaic
- Transitive verb
- Derogatory
- Informal