waif
noun
[ weɪf ]
• a homeless, neglected, or abandoned person, especially a child.
• "she is foster mother to various waifs and strays"
Similar:
ragamuffin,
street urchin,
guttersnipe,
abandoned infant,
foundling,
orphan,
stray,
outcast,
gamin,
mudlark,
Origin:
late Middle English: from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old Northern French gaif, probably of Scandinavian origin. Early use was often in waif and stray, as a legal term denoting a piece of property found and, if unclaimed, falling to the lord of the manor.
