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Waif vs Waive - What's the difference?

waif | waive | Related terms |

Waive is a related term of waif.

Waif is a related term of waive.


In context|obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between waif and waive

is that waif is (obsolete) hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance while waive is (obsolete) a waif; a castaway.

As nouns the difference between waif and waive

is that waif is (obsolete) 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 while waive is (obsolete|legal) a woman put out of the protection of the law; an outlawed woman or waive can be (waif).

As a verb waive is

(obsolete) to outlaw (someone) or waive can be (obsolete) to move from side to side; to sway.

waif

English

(Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) 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.
  • (obsolete) Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance.
  • A wanderer; a castaway; a stray; a homeless child.
  • * 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
    • 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!
  • A plant that has been introduced but is not persistently naturalized.

    • Related terms

    * waive

    See also

    * waft

    waive

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) weyven, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (waiv)
  • (obsolete) To outlaw (someone).
  • (obsolete) To abandon, give up (someone or something).
  • *
  • (legal) To relinquish (a right etc.); to give up claim to; to forego.
    • If you waive the right to be silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.
  • *
  • To put aside, avoid.
  • *
    • Derived terms
    * waivable
    Related terms
    * waiver * waif

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) weyven, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (waiv)
  • (obsolete) To move from side to side; to sway.
  • (obsolete) To stray, wander.
  • * c. 1390 , (Geoffrey Chaucer), "The Merchant's Tale", Canterbury Tales :
    • ye been so ful of sapience / That yow ne liketh, for youre heighe prudence, / To weyven fro the word of Salomon.

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) waive, probably as the past participle of (weyver), as Etymology 1, above.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete, legal) A woman put out of the protection of the law; an outlawed woman.
  • (obsolete) A waif; a castaway.
    • (John Donne)

    Etymology 4

    Variant forms.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • * 1624 , (John Donne), Devotions upon Emergent Occasions :
    • I know, O Lord, the ordinary discomfort that accompanies that phrase, that the house is visited, and that thy works, and thy tokens are upon the patient; but what a wretched, and disconsolate hermitage is that house, which is not visited by thee, and what a waive and stray is that man, that hath not thy marks upon him?