different between waif vs naif

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /we?f/
• Rhymes: -e?f

Etymology 1

The noun is derived from Late Middle English weif (“ownerless property subject to seizure and forfeiture; the right of such seizure and forfeiture; revenues obtained from such seizure and forfeiture”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman waif, weif [and other forms] (compare Anglo-Latin waivum [and other forms], Medieval Latin waivium), possibly from Old French waif, a variant of gaif, gayf (“property that is lost and unclaimed; of property: lost and unclaimed”) (Norman) [and other forms], probably from a North Germanic source such as Old Norse veif (“flag; waving thing”), from Proto-Germanic *waif-, from Proto-Indo-European *weyb-, *weyp- (“to oscillate, swing”).

The verb is derived from the noun.

Noun

waif (plural waifs)

1. (Britain, law, archaic) Often in the form waif and stray, waifs and strays: an article of movable property found of which the owner is not known, such as goods washed up on a beach or thrown away by an absconding thief; such items belong to the Crown, which may grant the right of ownership to them to a lord of a manor.
2. (figuratively)
   1. Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.
   2. A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagabond
   3. (by extension) A very thin person.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:thin person

      Antonyms: see Thesaurus:fat person

   4. (by extension, botany) A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but is not persistently naturalized.

Derived terms

• waifish
• waifishly
• waifishness
• waiflike

Related terms

• waive

Translations

Verb

waif (third-person singular simple present waifs, present participle waifing, simple past and past participle waifed)

1. (intransitive) To be cast aside or rejected, and thus become a waif.

Translations

Etymology 2

Possibly from Old Norse veif (“flag; waving thing”); see further at etymology 1.

Noun

waif (plural waifs)

1. (nautical, chiefly whaling, historical) A small flag used as a signal.

Related terms

• waff
• waft
• wheft

Translations

Etymology 3

Origin unknown; possibly related to the following words:

• waff (“waving movement; gust or puff of air or wind; odour, scent; slight blow; slight attack of illness; glimpse; apparition, wraith; of the wind: to cause (something) to move to and fro; to flutter or wave to and fro in the wind; to produce a current of air by waving, to fan”) (Northern England, Scotland), a variant of waive (etymology 2) or wave (see further at those entries).
• Middle English wef, weffe (“bad odour, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either:
  • waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”),, possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *web?- (“to braid, weave”); or
  • wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *web?- (“to braid, weave”)), or from -w?fan (see bew?fan, ymbw?fan).

Noun

waif (plural waifs)

1. Something (such as clouds or smoke) carried aloft by the wind.

Translations

References

Further reading

• waif and stray on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Middle English

Noun

waif

1. Alternative form of weif

English

Alternative forms

• naïf

Etymology

From French naïf.

Adjective

naif (comparative naifer, superlative naifest)

1. Naive.

Noun

naif (plural naifs)

1. One who is naive.

Translations

Anagrams

• Fain, an if, fain, fina

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French naïf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?na.if/

Adjective

naif (plural naifs)

1. naive

Turkish

Etymology

From French naïf, from Latin nativus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.if/
• Hyphenation: na?if

Adjective

naif (comparative daha naif, superlative en naif)

1. naive

Declension