waifn.¹adj.

Brit.

/weɪf/, U.S.

/weɪf/

Forms: Plural waifs. Forms: Middle English–1700s wayf, Middle English–1800s waife, Middle English wayffe, Middle English, 1600s weif, 1500s wayfe, wayff, 1500s–1600s weife, 1600s wafe, waiefe, weyfe, wayve, waive, wave, 1800s waiff, 1500s– waif. Also plural Middle English, 1600s wayves, Middle English weyves, 1500s wavys, 1500s–1600s waives. See also weft n.¹

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman waif, wayf (Sk.), weif, weyf (Britton), gwayf (in Kennett), (Anglo-Latin waivum , wayvium , weyvium ) = Old French (Norman) gaif , gayf (feminine gaive , gayve ) noun and adjective; early modern French (Cotgrave) vuayves (noun), and (choses ) guesves or gayves ; probably of Scandinavian origin, with the primary sense ‘something loose or wandering’; compare Old Norse veif something flapping or waving (compare waif n.²), related to veifa transitive to wave, vibrate. Compare waive v.²

A. n.¹

1. Law.

a. A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord of the manor; e.g. an article washed up on the seashore, an animal that has strayed. Often waif and stray or †straif: cf. stray n. 1, straif n.Not evidenced as English before 1377; the bracketed quots. represent the Anglo-Norman use of 13–15th centuries, in which the word is often collective singular meaning lost property collectively or the right of the lord to such property.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property > flotsam or jetsam > a piece of

waif1377

waith1478

wreck1570

weft1579

1223 in W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. (1818) II. 275 Recognitum est..quod ad nos spectat le Gwayf &c in terris nostris.

c1290 Fleta (1647) i. xlvii. 62 Si quis..libertatem Weyvii habere clamans, animal vagans in feodo suo invenerit.

1293 Rolls of Parl. I. 115/1 Omnia Animalia que dicuntur Wayf, inventa in predictis terris.

1372 in W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. (1818) II. 151 Dicte xix marce seisite fuerunt ibidem tanquam Wayf in manum prioris.

1400 in Liber Custum. (Rolls) 486 Quod prædictus Dux..haberet..omnimoda catalla vocata ‘Wayf’ et ‘Stray’.

a1425 ( in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1882) I. 52 Wrek, weyf, stray, merchet.]

1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 94 Of wardes and wardmotes, weyues and streyues.1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 126/2 All maner Wayffes and Strayes, and othur godes forfeted.1447 J. Shillingford Lett. (Camden) 99 He and his predecessours..have had view of Frank Plegge weif and straif and all other profits longing to a view.1455 Rolls of Parl. V. 311/2 Wrecke of the Sea, Weyves, Estrayes.1546 in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pleas Court Admiralty (1894) I. 148 The sayde Leonard Sumpter fyndynge the sayde shyppe..dryvynge with the streamys as a wayff and forsaken of all creatures toke and seased uppon the same as lawfull wayff and thynge forsaken.1547 in J. H. Glover Kingsthorpiana (1883) 93 That all wavys and strays from hense forthe shalbe delyvered to the Baylie by the Thurbarrowes.a1642 R. Callis Reading of Statute of Sewers (1647) i. 22 When an owner cannot be found, the Common Law gives it Domino Regi, as Waifs, Strays, Wreck of the Sea.1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. viii. 292 Wrecks, treasure trove,..waifs, and estrays, may be granted by the king to particular subjects, as a royal franchise: and indeed they are for the most part granted out to the lords of manors.1826 W. Scott Woodstock I. ii. 51 Sir Henry Lee is keeper of Woodstock Park, with right of waif and stray [etc.].1852 I. Pfeiffer Journey Iceland 85 He has a right to all the waifs, which is a privilege of some importance, on account of the wood drifted from the American continent.1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. vi. 171 The country folk, who were prowling about the shore after the waifs of the storm.incorrect use.1871 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera I. iii. 18 Hearing that a considerable treasure of ancient coins and medals has been found in the lands of Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, King Richard sends forthwith to claim this waif for himself.

†b. (See quots.) Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > abandoned by thief

waif1579

1579 Rastell's Expos. Termes Lawes (new ed.) 186 Wayfe is when a theefe hath feloniously stolne goodes, and beinge neerelye followed with hue, and crye,..flieth away and leaueth the goods..behind him, then the queenes officer or the Reeue or Bailife to the Lord of the manour..may seyse the goodes so wayued to their lordes vse.

1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iii. iv. 71 Waiues, Weifes, or waiued goods, import all goods and chattels, which being stolne, are left or forsaken by the thiefe in his fugacie.

1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 125 Waiefes are cattell stolne and weived out of the possession of him that stole them.

1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. viii. 286 Waifs, bona waviata, are goods stolen, and waived or thrown away by the thief in his flight, for fear of being apprehended.

2. transferred and figurative.

a. In general use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [noun] > one who or that which is

waif1624

discard1719

discarding1731

cast-off1740

cast-by1818

left-off1865

sloppy seconds1973

1624 J. Donne Deuotions xiii. 329 What a Wayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him?

1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. H Whensoever a Christian transgresseth these bounds once, he is impoundable, or like a wafe and stray whom Christ knows not, he falls to the Lord of the Mannor.

1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 143 We are faln into our Lords hands..as wafes and strays; the Lord of the Mannor seizeth on us for not paying our fines.

a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 70 Or wha will tent the waifs and crocks About the dykes?

1823 W. Scott Peveril IV. iv. 90 You are here a waif on Cupid's manor, and I must seize on you in name of the deity.

1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son liii. 530 I had no scruples of conscience in suffering all the waifs and strays of that conversation to float to me as freely as they would.

1855 Ld. Tennyson Brook in Maud & Other Poems 111 Rolling in his mind Old waifs of rhyme.

1877 J. A. Symonds Sketches & Stud. Italy (1879) 300 A chiffonnier of Paris,..when the night has fallen, goes into the streets..to rake up the waifs and strays a day of whirling life has left him.

1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxiii. 398 He was now flung as a waif on the shore of a foreign land.

1918 F. Wood-Jones Probl. Man's Ancestry 42 The whole fauna of Australia consists (with the exception of a few waifs) of pouched animals.

b. esp. A person who is without home or friends; one who lives uncared-for or without guidance; an outcast from society; an unowned or neglected child.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [noun] > state of being left alone or forlorn > person

widoweOE

orphan1483

forlorna1525

waif1785

1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 80 'Twas hard, perhaps, on here and there a waif, Desirous to return, and not receiv'd.

1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. i. iv. 26 It's no possible..that such poor waifes could be guilty of any thing like that.

1857 A. Mathews Tea-table Talk I. 205 Some blest Alsatia..wherein to gather up the waifs and strays that abound in the bye-ways.

1862 J. Skelton Nugæ Criticæ iii. 159 They are the waifs and strays, and cast-aways of society.

1875 Children reclaimed for Life 82 Little Jem Jervis was simply a friendless waif.

1916 Whitaker's Almanack Advt. 114 Church of England—Waifs and Strays Society needs help for its large family of over 4,600 children... Over 20,000 Children Rescued.

B. adj. and attributive.

1. attributive or appositive (indicating lost property, a strayed animal, a homeless person, etc.).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > separation or isolation > [adjective] > lost

waif1609

1609 J. Skene Treat. in Regiam Majestatem 155 Ane wafe beast, after zeare and day, is escheit to the King.

1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. 194 He who finds a waife Beast, which hath strayed from the owner.

1681–2 Radclyffe Household Bks. in Northumb. Gloss. Mantayning a wave child in Dilston, 1 l. 8 d.

1754 J. Erskine Princ. Law Scotl. I. ii. i. 107 Where one finds strayed cattle, or other moveables, which have been lost by the former owner (wayf or waith goods).

1898 F. D. How Life Bp. W. How xix. 267 A Home for Waif Boys had been established.

2. adj. (Scottish)

a. Stray, wandering, homeless: = waff adj. 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adjective] > with no fixed aim or wandering

wanderingc1000

erringa1340

waggeringa1382

vagant1382

vagabond1426

erroneousa1464

fugitive1481

wavering1487

vagrantc1522

gadding1545

roaming1566

roving1576

straggling1589

rambling?1609

wagand1614

wheelinga1616

gadling1616

vagring1619

erratical1620

vaguing1627

erratic1656

planetical1656

waif1724

vagrarious1795

stravaiging1825

vagarious1882

pirooting1958

1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. i Mylane I wandert waif and wae.

1806 tr. Rosmer Hafmand iv, in R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 203 And wull and waif for eight lang years They sail'd upon the sea.

b. Applied to a report or saying: Floating, current. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [adjective] > of present interest or importance

waif1753

live1850

topical1873

1753 Trial J. Stewart Append. 102 Depones, That he heard a waif report in the country, that [etc.].

1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xvii. 162 I have heard a waif word in the country..that you were a hard man to drive.

c. Poor or inferior in quality; = waff adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [adjective]

salec1299

bastarda1348

sorry1372

slight1393

shrewd1426

singlec1449

backc1450

soberc1450

lesser1464

silly?a1500

starven1546

mockado1577

subaltern1578

bastardly1583

wooden1592

starved1604

perishing1605

starveling1611

minor1612

starvy1647

potsherd1655

low1727

la-la1800

waif1824

lathen1843

one-eyed1843

snide1859

bobbery1873

jerkwater1877

low-grade1878

shoddy1882

tinhorn1886

jerk1893

cheapie1898

shaganappi1900

buckeye1906

reach-me-down1907

pissy1922

crappy1928

cruddy1935

el cheapo1967

pound shop1989

1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance III. xviii. 164 It will be but a waiff kind of happiness.

Derivatives

ˈwaifish adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adjective] > left alone

outcasta1325

desolatec1386

lornc1475

destitute1530

widoweda1586

destituteda1680

marooned1883

waif-like1924

waifish1936

1936 S. Smith Novel on Yellow Paper 220 Such..wispish, waifish progeny.

1977 Time 31 Jan. 21/3 The waifish face beneath the jaunty white cap never loses its ethereal Pre-Raphaelite look.

ˈwaifishly adv.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adverb] > left alone

desolately1548

destitutely1548

forlornly1630

waif-wise1924

waifishly1980

1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 June 703/1 Hurricane's Samoan scenery is enticingly picturesque: doesn't art student Charlotte—waifishly played by Mia Farrow—arrive on her vacation exclaiming ‘I can't wait to get out my paintbox’?

ˈwaif-like adj.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adjective] > left alone

outcasta1325

desolatec1386

lornc1475

destitute1530

widoweda1586

destituteda1680

marooned1883

waif-like1924

waifish1936

society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adverb] > left alone

desolately1548

destitutely1548

forlornly1630

waif-wise1924

waifishly1980

1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 35 Their waif-like corpses on a stormy bed Toss in their deep deliriums.

1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xv. 149 How young she looked, how waif-like.

ˈwaif-wise adv.

ΚΠ

1871 A. C. Swinburne Eve of Revol. in Songs before Sunrise 63 Whose multiplying hands Wove the world's web with divers races fair And cast it waif-wise on the stream.

Draft additions March 2007

An extremely thin person. Sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense A. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [noun] > person having

slip1703

stick1945

superwaif1972

waif1980

1980 A. Tyler Morgan's Passing ii. v. 49 Seven slim, blue-jeaned girls and..a little white-haired waif with rhinestone ear studs, some friend of Kate's.

1984 D. Cooper He Cried 15 Doug watched the band carefully, hot for its singer, a half-hearted, pasty waif screaming an elementary set of loose phrases stocked with obscenities.

1996 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 23 July 11/1 From the thin waifs on the balance beam to the grunting giants of the weights, this is about an individual's special skills being tested in the white-hot crucible of competition.

2002 ‘Mistress Chloe’ Dominatrix ix. 131 I was able to buy most of what I wanted at a little shop presided over by a timid Gothic waif in purple eyeshadow and lipstick.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	waif
释义	waifn.¹adj. Brit. /weɪf/, U.S. /weɪf/ Forms: Plural waifs. Forms: Middle English–1700s wayf, Middle English–1800s waife, Middle English wayffe, Middle English, 1600s weif, 1500s wayfe, wayff, 1500s–1600s weife, 1600s wafe, waiefe, weyfe, wayve, waive, wave, 1800s waiff, 1500s– waif. Also plural Middle English, 1600s wayves, Middle English weyves, 1500s wavys, 1500s–1600s waives. See also weft n.¹ Etymology: < Anglo-Norman waif, wayf (Sk.), weif, weyf (Britton), gwayf (in Kennett), (Anglo-Latin waivum , wayvium , weyvium ) = Old French (Norman) gaif , gayf (feminine gaive , gayve ) noun and adjective; early modern French (Cotgrave) vuayves (noun), and (choses ) guesves or gayves ; probably of Scandinavian origin, with the primary sense ‘something loose or wandering’; compare Old Norse veif something flapping or waving (compare waif n.²), related to veifa transitive to wave, vibrate. Compare waive v.² A. n.¹ 1. Law. a. A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord of the manor; e.g. an article washed up on the seashore, an animal that has strayed. Often waif and stray or †straif: cf. stray n. 1, straif n.Not evidenced as English before 1377; the bracketed quots. represent the Anglo-Norman use of 13–15th centuries, in which the word is often collective singular meaning lost property collectively or the right of the lord to such property. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > possessions > [noun] > personal or movable property > flotsam or jetsam > a piece of waif1377 waith1478 wreck1570 weft1579 1223 in W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. (1818) II. 275 Recognitum est..quod ad nos spectat le Gwayf &c in terris nostris. c1290 Fleta (1647) i. xlvii. 62 Si quis..libertatem Weyvii habere clamans, animal vagans in feodo suo invenerit. 1293 Rolls of Parl. I. 115/1 Omnia Animalia que dicuntur Wayf, inventa in predictis terris. 1372 in W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. (1818) II. 151 Dicte xix marce seisite fuerunt ibidem tanquam Wayf in manum prioris. 1400 in Liber Custum. (Rolls) 486 Quod prædictus Dux..haberet..omnimoda catalla vocata ‘Wayf’ et ‘Stray’. a1425 ( in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1882) I. 52 Wrek, weyf, stray, merchet.] 1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. Prol. 94 Of wardes and wardmotes, weyues and streyues.1444 Rolls of Parl. V. 126/2 All maner Wayffes and Strayes, and othur godes forfeted.1447 J. Shillingford Lett. (Camden) 99 He and his predecessours..have had view of Frank Plegge weif and straif and all other profits longing to a view.1455 Rolls of Parl. V. 311/2 Wrecke of the Sea, Weyves, Estrayes.1546 in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pleas Court Admiralty (1894) I. 148 The sayde Leonard Sumpter fyndynge the sayde shyppe..dryvynge with the streamys as a wayff and forsaken of all creatures toke and seased uppon the same as lawfull wayff and thynge forsaken.1547 in J. H. Glover Kingsthorpiana (1883) 93 That all wavys and strays from hense forthe shalbe delyvered to the Baylie by the Thurbarrowes.a1642 R. Callis Reading of Statute of Sewers (1647) i. 22 When an owner cannot be found, the Common Law gives it Domino Regi, as Waifs, Strays, Wreck of the Sea.1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. viii. 292 Wrecks, treasure trove,..waifs, and estrays, may be granted by the king to particular subjects, as a royal franchise: and indeed they are for the most part granted out to the lords of manors.1826 W. Scott Woodstock I. ii. 51 Sir Henry Lee is keeper of Woodstock Park, with right of waif and stray [etc.].1852 I. Pfeiffer Journey Iceland 85 He has a right to all the waifs, which is a privilege of some importance, on account of the wood drifted from the American continent.1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. vi. 171 The country folk, who were prowling about the shore after the waifs of the storm.incorrect use.1871 J. Ruskin Fors Clavigera I. iii. 18 Hearing that a considerable treasure of ancient coins and medals has been found in the lands of Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, King Richard sends forthwith to claim this waif for himself. †b. (See quots.) Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > stolen goods > [noun] > abandoned by thief waif1579 1579 Rastell's Expos. Termes Lawes (new ed.) 186 Wayfe is when a theefe hath feloniously stolne goodes, and beinge neerelye followed with hue, and crye,..flieth away and leaueth the goods..behind him, then the queenes officer or the Reeue or Bailife to the Lord of the manour..may seyse the goodes so wayued to their lordes vse. 1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia iii. iv. 71 Waiues, Weifes, or waiued goods, import all goods and chattels, which being stolne, are left or forsaken by the thiefe in his fugacie. 1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 125 Waiefes are cattell stolne and weived out of the possession of him that stole them. 1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. viii. 286 Waifs, bona waviata, are goods stolen, and waived or thrown away by the thief in his flight, for fear of being apprehended. 2. transferred and figurative. a. In general use. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > relinquishing > casting or laying aside > [noun] > one who or that which is waif1624 discard1719 discarding1731 cast-off1740 cast-by1818 left-off1865 sloppy seconds1973 1624 J. Donne Deuotions xiii. 329 What a Wayue, and Stray is that Man, that hath not thy Markes vpon him? 1676 A. Marvell Mr. Smirke sig. H Whensoever a Christian transgresseth these bounds once, he is impoundable, or like a wafe and stray whom Christ knows not, he falls to the Lord of the Mannor. 1690 C. Ness Compl. Hist. & Myst. Old & New Test. I. 143 We are faln into our Lords hands..as wafes and strays; the Lord of the Mannor seizeth on us for not paying our fines. a1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 70 Or wha will tent the waifs and crocks About the dykes? 1823 W. Scott Peveril IV. iv. 90 You are here a waif on Cupid's manor, and I must seize on you in name of the deity. 1848 C. Dickens Dombey & Son liii. 530 I had no scruples of conscience in suffering all the waifs and strays of that conversation to float to me as freely as they would. 1855 Ld. Tennyson Brook in Maud & Other Poems 111 Rolling in his mind Old waifs of rhyme. 1877 J. A. Symonds Sketches & Stud. Italy (1879) 300 A chiffonnier of Paris,..when the night has fallen, goes into the streets..to rake up the waifs and strays a day of whirling life has left him. 1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxiii. 398 He was now flung as a waif on the shore of a foreign land. 1918 F. Wood-Jones Probl. Man's Ancestry 42 The whole fauna of Australia consists (with the exception of a few waifs) of pouched animals. b. esp. A person who is without home or friends; one who lives uncared-for or without guidance; an outcast from society; an unowned or neglected child. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [noun] > state of being left alone or forlorn > person widoweOE orphan1483 forlorna1525 waif1785 1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 80 'Twas hard, perhaps, on here and there a waif, Desirous to return, and not receiv'd. 1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. i. iv. 26 It's no possible..that such poor waifes could be guilty of any thing like that. 1857 A. Mathews Tea-table Talk I. 205 Some blest Alsatia..wherein to gather up the waifs and strays that abound in the bye-ways. 1862 J. Skelton Nugæ Criticæ iii. 159 They are the waifs and strays, and cast-aways of society. 1875 Children reclaimed for Life 82 Little Jem Jervis was simply a friendless waif. 1916 Whitaker's Almanack Advt. 114 Church of England—Waifs and Strays Society needs help for its large family of over 4,600 children... Over 20,000 Children Rescued. B. adj. and attributive. 1. attributive or appositive (indicating lost property, a strayed animal, a homeless person, etc.). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > separation or isolation > [adjective] > lost waif1609 1609 J. Skene Treat. in Regiam Majestatem 155 Ane wafe beast, after zeare and day, is escheit to the King. 1678 G. Mackenzie Laws & Customes Scotl. i. 194 He who finds a waife Beast, which hath strayed from the owner. 1681–2 Radclyffe Household Bks. in Northumb. Gloss. Mantayning a wave child in Dilston, 1 l. 8 d. 1754 J. Erskine Princ. Law Scotl. I. ii. i. 107 Where one finds strayed cattle, or other moveables, which have been lost by the former owner (wayf or waith goods). 1898 F. D. How Life Bp. W. How xix. 267 A Home for Waif Boys had been established. 2. adj. (Scottish) a. Stray, wandering, homeless: = waff adj. 1. ΘΚΠ society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [adjective] > with no fixed aim or wandering wanderingc1000 erringa1340 waggeringa1382 vagant1382 vagabond1426 erroneousa1464 fugitive1481 wavering1487 vagrantc1522 gadding1545 roaming1566 roving1576 straggling1589 rambling?1609 wagand1614 wheelinga1616 gadling1616 vagring1619 erratical1620 vaguing1627 erratic1656 planetical1656 waif1724 vagrarious1795 stravaiging1825 vagarious1882 pirooting1958 1724 A. Ramsay Vision in Ever Green I. i Mylane I wandert waif and wae. 1806 tr. Rosmer Hafmand iv, in R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 203 And wull and waif for eight lang years They sail'd upon the sea. b. Applied to a report or saying: Floating, current. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [adjective] > of present interest or importance waif1753 live1850 topical1873 1753 Trial J. Stewart Append. 102 Depones, That he heard a waif report in the country, that [etc.]. 1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xvii. 162 I have heard a waif word in the country..that you were a hard man to drive. c. Poor or inferior in quality; = waff adj. 2. ΘΚΠ the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior thing > [adjective] salec1299 bastarda1348 sorry1372 slight1393 shrewd1426 singlec1449 backc1450 soberc1450 lesser1464 silly?a1500 starven1546 mockado1577 subaltern1578 bastardly1583 wooden1592 starved1604 perishing1605 starveling1611 minor1612 starvy1647 potsherd1655 low1727 la-la1800 waif1824 lathen1843 one-eyed1843 snide1859 bobbery1873 jerkwater1877 low-grade1878 shoddy1882 tinhorn1886 jerk1893 cheapie1898 shaganappi1900 buckeye1906 reach-me-down1907 pissy1922 crappy1928 cruddy1935 el cheapo1967 pound shop1989 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance III. xviii. 164 It will be but a waiff kind of happiness. Derivatives ˈwaifish adj. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adjective] > left alone outcasta1325 desolatec1386 lornc1475 destitute1530 widoweda1586 destituteda1680 marooned1883 waif-like1924 waifish1936 1936 S. Smith Novel on Yellow Paper 220 Such..wispish, waifish progeny. 1977 Time 31 Jan. 21/3 The waifish face beneath the jaunty white cap never loses its ethereal Pre-Raphaelite look. ˈwaifishly adv. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adverb] > left alone desolately1548 destitutely1548 forlornly1630 waif-wise1924 waifishly1980 1980 Times Lit. Suppl. 20 June 703/1 Hurricane's Samoan scenery is enticingly picturesque: doesn't art student Charlotte—waifishly played by Mia Farrow—arrive on her vacation exclaiming ‘I can't wait to get out my paintbox’? ˈwaif-like adj. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adjective] > left alone outcasta1325 desolatec1386 lornc1475 destitute1530 widoweda1586 destituteda1680 marooned1883 waif-like1924 waifish1936 society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adverb] > left alone desolately1548 destitutely1548 forlornly1630 waif-wise1924 waifishly1980 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin ii. 35 Their waif-like corpses on a stormy bed Toss in their deep deliriums. 1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xv. 149 How young she looked, how waif-like. ˈwaif-wise adv. ΚΠ 1871 A. C. Swinburne Eve of Revol. in Songs before Sunrise 63 Whose multiplying hands Wove the world's web with divers races fair And cast it waif-wise on the stream. Draft additions March 2007 An extremely thin person. Sometimes difficult to distinguish from sense A. 2b. ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > slim shape or physique > [noun] > person having slip1703 stick1945 superwaif1972 waif1980 1980 A. Tyler Morgan's Passing ii. v. 49 Seven slim, blue-jeaned girls and..a little white-haired waif with rhinestone ear studs, some friend of Kate's. 1984 D. Cooper He Cried 15 Doug watched the band carefully, hot for its singer, a half-hearted, pasty waif screaming an elementary set of loose phrases stocked with obscenities. 1996 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 23 July 11/1 From the thin waifs on the balance beam to the grunting giants of the weights, this is about an individual's special skills being tested in the white-hot crucible of competition. 2002 ‘Mistress Chloe’ Dominatrix ix. 131 I was able to buy most of what I wanted at a little shop presided over by a timid Gothic waif in purple eyeshadow and lipstick. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022). waifn.² Brit. /weɪf/, U.S. /weɪf/ Origin: Perhaps a borrowing from early Scandinavian. Etymon: Norse veif. Etymology: ? < Old Norse veif, something waving or flapping. †1. ? A convolution, coil. Scottish. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > coil > [noun] rundlec1300 waif1513 enwrapping1543 convolution1545 entrail?a1549 wreath1555 roundness1572 spire1572 rolling1576 enfold1578 infold1578 obvolution1578 gyre1590 whorl1592 enfoldment1593 twine1600 turn1625 volume1646 volution1752 swirl1786 coil1805 swirling1825 convolute1846 whirl1862 enfolding1873 snaking1888 1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid vii. vii. 25 The grisly serpent semyt sum tyme to be About hir hals a lynkyt goldin cheynȝe; And sum tyme of hir curche, lap with a waif, Becum the selvage or bordoure of hir quayf. 2. A small flag used as a signal: = waff n. 1b, waft n.¹ 6. Now Nautical spec. in whaling. Also attributive, as waif-pole. ΘΚΠ society > communication > indication > signalling > visual signalling > flag signalling > [noun] > signal flag waif1530 waft1562 whiff1693 affirmative flag1796 whift1839 cornet1874 society > occupation and work > industry > whaling and seal-hunting > whaling > whaling equipment > [noun] > lance or pole lancet1753 whale-lance1823 waif-pole1839 whale-pike1851 whale-pole1851 gun-lance1883 1530 in J. Stuart Extracts Council Reg. Aberdeen (1844) I. 446 And the watch that beis in Sanct Nicholace stepill to pyt on the waiffs that he hes, to the part of the toun he seis thame cumand to. 1839 J. N. Reynolds in Knickerbocker May 382 Line-tubs, water-kegs, and wafe-poles, were thrown hurriedly into the boats. 1846 T. B. Thorpe Myst. Backwoods 85 As the waiffe of the whaleman [marks] his victim on the sea. 1850 H. T. Cheever Whale & his Captors 311 Two waifs, or flags, were immediately set as a signal of distress. 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lxxxix. 440 The allusion to the waifs and waif-poles..necessitates some account of the laws and regulations of the whale fishery. 1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals N. Amer. 25 The officer who first discovers it [a whale] sets a waif (a small flag) in his boat, and gives chase. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2022). waifn.³ Brit. /weɪf/, U.S. /weɪf/ Etymology: Compare weffe n.¹, waff n. Something borne or driven by the wind; a puff (of smoke), a streak (of cloud). ΚΠ 1854 C. Patmore Betrothal i, in Angel in House I. 18 The sunny wind that..shaped the clouds in waifs and zones. 1879 R. H. Elliot Written on their Foreheads II. xxxiii. 1 The first waifs of the hot-weather sea-borne breeze had in the evening begun faintly to fan the topmost heights of the border hills. 1886 C. H. H. Parry Stud. Great Composers: Schubert 232 Nothing but waifs of cloud and howling of wind. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021). waifv. Brit. /weɪf/, U.S. /weɪf/ Etymology: < waif n.¹ Compare waive v.¹ In passive: to be thrown up or cast away as a waif. ΘΚΠ the mind > possession > possessions > [verb (intransitive)] > be abandoned as property waif1848 1848 E. Bulwer-Lytton Harold II. ix. i. 294 He hath right of life and death over all stranded and waifed on his coast. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021). < n.¹adj.1377n.²1513n.³1854v.1848
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waifn.1adj.

Derivatives

Draft additions March 2007

waifn.2

waifn.3

waifv.

waifn.¹adj.

waifn.²

waifn.³