English Explanatory Dictionary

waif

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. 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. Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.
  3. A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.
  4. A very thin person, especially a young one.
  5. A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but not persistently naturalized.
verb
  1. To cast aside or reject, and thus make a waif.
noun
  1. A small flag used as a signal.
noun
  1. Something (such as clouds or smoke) carried aloft by the wind.
noun
  1. A minor celebrity whose fame is unwarranted or undeserved.

Pronunciation

/weɪf/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-waif.wav

Word forms

waif waifs waifing waifed

Etymology

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.

Synonyms

bum stiff casual clochard derelict dero down-and-out down-and-outer drifter epithite floater gadling hobo Jack out of doors knight of the road landleaper landloper landlouper nomad paker palliard pike piker ranger rogue rolling stone rough sleeper scatterling skelder skell stroller stumblebum swagman swaggie toerag tramp truant vagabond vagrant wanderer waif yagger thin person

Antonyms

All are derogatory unless otherwise labeled butterball chubbs chubster chunker chunky monkey elephant fat fatfuck fatso fattie fatty fatty bom bom fatty boombalatty fat-ass fatass fat fuck fatshit fussock gorbelly hambeast hamplanet heffalump landwhale lardass lardbucket lardo oinker obeast pig podge porker pudge roly-poly salad dodger swagbelly thunder thighs tubbalard tubba lard tubbo tub of guts tub of lard whale

Related words

waive waff waft wheft MAW

Derived words

waifish waifishly waifishness waiflike
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