waive

1. A waif; a castaway.

2. A woman put out of the protection of the law. See Waive, 3, and the Note.

See: Waive.

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. To desert; to abandon.

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.

Origin: 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

Alternative forms: wave.

Source: Websters Dictionary

(01 Mar 1998)


Terms mentioned in text: woman, put, protection, law, note, milk, flesh, own, yielding, barrow, throw, cast, desert, desert, abandon, term, woman, same, sense, man, proper, word, she, law, might, held, abandoned, wave
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