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waif

 - 7 dictionary results

waif

  [weyf]
Use waif in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person, esp. a child, who has no home or friends.
2. something found, esp. a stray animal, whose owner is not known.
3. a stray item or article: to gather waifs of gossip.
4. Nautical. waft (def. 8).
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < AF, orig. lost, stray, unclaimed (cf. OF guaif stray beast) < Scand; cf. ON veif movement to and fro; see waive

waft

  [waft, wahft]
–verb (used with object)
1. to carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water: The gentle breeze wafted the sound of music to our ears.
2. to send or convey lightly, as if in flight: The actress wafted kisses to her admirers in the audience.
3. Obsolete. to signal to, summon, or direct by waving.
–verb (used without object)
4. to float or be carried, esp. through the air: The sound wafted on the breeze. The music wafted across the lake.
–noun
5. a sound, odor, etc., faintly perceived: a waft of perfume.
6. a wafting movement; light current or gust: a waft of air.
7. the act of wafting.
8. Also, waif. Nautical. a signal given by waving a flag.
Origin:
1535–45; back formation from late ME waughter armed escort vessel < D or LG wachter watchman; in some senses confused with waff

Related forms:
wafter, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To waif
waft   (wäft, wāft)   
v.   waft·ed, waft·ing, wafts

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to go gently and smoothly through the air or over water.

  2. To convey or send floating through the air or over water.

v.   intr.
To float easily and gently, as on the air; drift: "It was a heat that wafted from streets, rolled between buildings and settled over sidewalks" (Sarah Lyall).
n.  

  1. Something, such as an odor, that is carried through the air.

  2. A light breeze; a rush of air.

  3. The act of fluttering or waving.

  4. Nautical A flag used for signaling or indicating wind direction. Also called waif2.


[Back-formation from wafter, convoy ship, alteration of Middle English waughter, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wachter, a guard, from wachten, to guard; see weg- in Indo-European roots.]
waft'er n.
waif 1   (wāf)   
n.  

    1. A homeless person, especially a forsaken or orphaned child.

    2. An abandoned young animal.

  2. Something found and unclaimed, as an object cast up by the sea.


[Middle English, ownerless property, stray animal, from Anglo-Norman, probably of Scandinavian origin; see weip- in Indo-European roots.]
waif 2   (wāf)   
n.   Nautical
See waft.

[Probably of Scandinavian origin; see weip- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

waft 
1513, "to carry over water," back-formation from obs. wafter "convoy ship" (1482), from M.Du. or M.L.G. wachter "a guard," from wachten "to guard," related to waken "rouse from sleep" (see wake (1)). The meaning "pass through air or space, float" is first attested 1704, and possibly shows some influence of northern dialect waff "cause to move to and fro" (1513), a variant of wave.

waif 
1376, "unclaimed property, flotsam, stray animal," from Anglo-Norm. waif, gwaif (1223) "ownerless property," probably from a Scand. source akin to O.N. veif "waving thing, flag," from P.Gmc. *waif-, from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically." Cf. M.L. waivium "thing thrown away by a thief in flight." A Scot./northern Eng. parallel form was wavenger (1493). Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1624). Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels such as Kate Moss.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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