Waif

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

Waif, n. [OF. waif, gaif, as adj., lost, unclaimed, chose gaive a waif, LL. wayfium, res vaivae; of Scand. origin. See Waive.].

•  Goods found of which the owner is not known; originally, such goods as a pursued thief threw away to prevent being apprehended, which belonged to the king unless the owner made pursuit of the felon, took him, and brought him to justice.  Blackstone.  [1913 Webster]
•  Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance.  Tennyson.  [1913 Webster]
•  A wanderer; a castaway; a stray; a homeless child.  [1913 Webster]

  "A waif
  Desirous to return, and not received."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Waif, n.
1 a homeless and helpless person, esp. an abandoned child.
2 an ownerless object or animal, a thing cast up by or drifting in the sea or brought by an unknown agency.

Idiom

waifs and strays 1 homeless or neglected children.
2 odds and ends.

Derivative

waifish adj.

Etymology

ME f. AF waif, weif, ONF gaif, prob. of Scand. orig.

THESAURUS

Waif

Arab, beach bum, beachcomber, beggar, bo, bum, bummer, castaway, castoff, derelict, discard, dogie, flotsam, flotsam and jetsam, foundling, gamin, gamine, guttersnipe, hobo, homeless waif, idler, jetsam, junk, lagan, landloper, lazzarone, loafer, losel, mudlark, orphan, piker, ragamuffin, ragman, ragpicker, refuse, reject, rounder, rubbish, ski bum, stiff, stray, street Arab, street urchin, sundowner, surf bum, swagman, swagsman, tatterdemalion, tennis bum, tramp, trash, turnpiker, urchin, vag, vagabond, vagrant, waifs and strays, wastrel

ROGET THESAURUS

Waif

Good

N good, benefit, advantage, improvement, greatest good, supreme good, interest, service, behoof, behalf, weal, main chance, summum bonum, common weal, consummation devoutly to be wished, gain, boot, profit, harvest, boon, good turn, blessing, world of good, piece of good luck, piece of good fortune, nuts, prize, windfall, godsend, waif, treasure-trove, good fortune, happiness, goodness, utility, remedy, pleasure giving, commendable, useful, good, beneficial, well, aright, satisfactorily, favorably, not amis, all for the best, to one's advantage, in one's favor, in one's interest, so far so good, magnum bonum.

Relinquishment

N relinquishment, abandonment, desertion, defection, secession, withdrawal, cave of Adullam, nolle prosequi, discontinuance, renunciation, abrogation, resignation, desuetude, cession, unpursued, relinquished, relinquishing, Int, avast!, aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben, entbehre gern was du nicht hast, relinquishment, abandonment, renunciation, expropriation, dereliction, cession, surrender, dispensation, quitclaim deed, resignation, riddance, derelict, foundling, jetsam, waif, discards, culls, rejects, garbage, refuse, rubbish, relinquished, cast off, derelict, unowned, unappropriated, unculled, left, Int, away with!.