Waif (?), n. [OF. waif, gaif,
as adj., lost, unclaimed, chose gaive a waif, LL. wayfium,
res vaivae; of Scand. origin. See Waive.]
1. (Eng. Law.) 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.
Blackstone.
2. Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that
which comes along, as it were, by chance. "Rolling in his mind old
waifs of rhyme." Tennyson.
3. A wanderer; a castaway; a stray; a homeless
child.
A waif
Desirous to return, and not received.
Cowper.