waif
waif Lexical Profile
waif Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A homeless, neglected, or abandoned person, especially a child.
"The novel tells the moving story of a young waif surviving on the streets of Victorian London."
A person, especially a young woman, who is very thin and appears fragile or vulnerable.
"During the 1990s, fashion magazines frequently featured slender models with a pale, delicate waif look."
An unclaimed piece of property found ownerless, or goods washed ashore or thrown overboard by a fleeing thief (in historical English law).
"Under medieval manor law, any unclaimed waif found on the estate automatically reverted to the lord of the manor."
• Rhymes for waif
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Anglo-French 'waif' (meaning unclaimed or stray property), likely derived from Old Norse 'veif' (something flapping or waving in the breeze). Originally a medieval English legal term for ownerless goods or stray livestock, the word evolved by the 18th century to describe a homeless, neglected child.