Waive (?), n. [See Waive, v.
t. ] 1. A waif; a castaway. [Obs.]
Donne.
2. (O. Eng. Law) A woman put out of the
protection of the law. See Waive, v. t., 3
(b), and the Note.
Waive, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Waived (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Waiving.] [OE.
waiven, weiven, to set aside, remove, OF. weyver,
quesver, to waive, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. veifa to wave,
to vibrate, akin to Skr. vip to tremble. Cf. Vibrate,
Waif.] [Written also wave.]
1. To relinquish; to give up claim to; not to
insist on or claim; to refuse; to forego.
He waiveth milk, and flesh, and all.
Chaucer.
We absolutely do renounce or waive our own opinions,
absolutely yielding to the direction of others.
Barrow.
2. To throw away; to cast off; to reject; to
desert.
3. (Law) (a) To throw away;
to relinquish voluntarily, as a right which one may enforce if he
chooses. (b) (O. Eng. Law) To desert; to
abandon. Burrill.
☞ The term was applied to a woman, in the same sense as
outlaw to a man. A woman could not be outlawed, in the proper
sense of the word, because, according to Bracton, she was never in
law, that is, in a frankpledge or decennary; but she might be
waived, and held as abandoned. Burrill.
Waive, v. i. To turn aside; to
recede. [Obs.]
To waive from the word of Solomon.
Chaucer.