Waif (nonfiction)

Jerry's family: a story of a street waif of New York (1895).

A waif (from the Old French guaif, "stray beast") is a living creature removed, by hardship, loss or other helpless circumstance, from its original surroundings.

The most common usage of the word is to designate a homeless, forsaken or orphaned child, or someone whose appearance is evocative of the same.

As such, the term is similar to a ragamuffin or street urchin, although the main distinction is volitional: a runaway youth might live on the streets, but would not properly be called a waif as the departure from one's home was an exercise of free will.

Likewise, a person fleeing their home for purposes of safety (as in response to political oppression or natural disaster), is typically considered not a waif but a refugee.

Fiction cross-reference

• 

  This human waif is receiving free state-sponsored craniometry. This device is designed to register up to half a kilo-waif.

• 

  Anarchimedes generates earthquakes in the two to four kilo-waif range.

• Waif (physics) - a unit of measurement

External links

• Waif @ Wikipedia