Orphan vs. Waif

Orphan vs. Waif — Is There a Difference?
ADVERTISEMENT

Difference Between Orphan and Waif

Orphannoun

A person, especially a minor, both or (rarely) one of whose parents have died.

Waifnoun

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.

Orphannoun

A person, especially a minor, whose parents have permanently abandoned them.

Waifnoun

(figuratively)

Orphannoun

A young animal with no mother.

Waifnoun

Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.

ADVERTISEMENT

Orphannoun

(figuratively) Anything that is unsupported, as by its source, provider or caretaker, by reason of the supporter's demise or decision to abandon.

Waifnoun

A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.

Orphannoun

(typography) A single line of type, beginning a paragraph, at the bottom of a column or page.

Waifnoun

(by extension) A very thin person.

Thesaurus:thin personThesaurus:fat person

Orphannoun

(computing) Any unreferenced object.

Waifnoun

A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but is not persistently naturalized.

ADVERTISEMENT

Orphanadjective

Deprived of parents (also orphaned).

She is an orphan child.

Waifnoun

A small flag used as a signal.

Orphanadjective

Remaining after the removal of some form of support.

With its government funding curtailed, the gun registry became an orphan program.

Waifnoun

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

Orphanverb

(transitive) To deprive of parents used almost exclusively in the passive

What do you do when you come across two orphaned polar bear cubs?

Waifverb

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

Orphanverb

To make unavailable, as by removing the last remaining pointer or reference to.

When you removed that image tag, you orphaned the resized icon.Removing categories orphans pages from the main category tree.

Waifnoun

a homeless child especially one forsaken or orphaned;

street children beg or steal in order to survive

Orphannoun

a child who has lost both parents

Orphannoun

someone or something who lacks support or care or supervision

Orphannoun

the first line of a paragraph that is set as the last line of a page or column

Orphannoun

a young animal without a mother

Orphanverb

deprive of parents

Orphanadjective

deprived of parents by death or desertion