noun · rare

waif

waif · waifs

находка, потерянная вещь, беспризорник, беспризорница

Fundstück, Fundsache, Heimatloser, heimatlose Person

Something found, especially if without an ownerSomething found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.

/weɪf/

Meaning

7 senses

(figuratively)Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.
Fundstück, Fundsache
нахо́дкаnaxódka, поте́рянная вещьpotérjannaja veščʹ
(figuratively)A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.
Heimatloser, heimatlose Person, heimatloses Kind
беспризо́рникbesprizórnik, беспризо́рницаbesprizórnica
a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned
(broadly, figuratively)A very thin person, especially a young one.
(broadly, figuratively)A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but not persistently naturalized.
(historical)A small flag used as a signal.
Something (such as clouds or smoke) carried by wind or water.
(UK, archaic)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.
waifs and strays
herrenloses Gut

Translations

6 languages

Русский

By meaning 2

something found, especially if without an owner:

person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support:

Deutsch

By meaning 3

article of movable property found of which the owner is not known:

something found, especially if without an owner:

person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support:

Origin

The noun is derived from Late Middle English weif (“ownerless property subject to seizure

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”).

Possibly from Old Norse veif (“flag; waving thing”); see further at etymology 1.

Origin unknown; possibly related to the following words:

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