waif
/weɪf/ · noun
Meaning
- A castaway; a homeless child.
- (of a plant outside its native range) A plant that has been introduced but is not persistently naturalized.
- 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.
- Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance.
Etymology / origin
No prose etymology has been added yet.
No ancestor words have been linked yet.
Related words
Descendant words
No descendant words have been linked yet.