waif

畅通词汇

英 [weɪf] 美[wef]

释义

n. 流浪者；流浪儿；飘流物；无主物；信号旗

助记提示

1. wave => waive => waif.
2. 就像波浪一样随波逐流。
3. 萍水相逢，萍水相逢尽是他乡之客，身世浮沉雨打萍。
4. => 飘流物，流浪汉，无家可归者，(尤指)流浪儿。
5. 【记法】分解为：wai（外）＋f（放）
6. 【联想】一个被外放的人是无家可归的

中文词源

waif 无家可归者，流浪儿

来自PIE*weip,摇动，摇摆，词源同wipe,vibrate。引申词义漂浮物，无主物，走偏的动物等，后主要指无家可归的小孩，流浪儿。

英文词源

waif (n.): late 14c., "unclaimed property, flotsam, stray animal," from Anglo-French waif (13c., Old French guaif) "ownerless property, something lost;" as an adjective, "not claimed, outcast, abandoned," probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse veif "waving thing, flag," from Proto-Germanic *waif-, from PIE *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically" (see vibrate). Compare Medieval Latin waivium "thing thrown away by a thief in flight." A Scottish/northern English parallel form was wavenger (late 15c.).

Meaning "person (especially a child) without home or friends" first attested 1784, from legal phrase waif and stray (1620s), from the adjective in the sense "lost, strayed, homeless." Neglected children being uncommonly thin, the word tended toward this sense. Connotations of "fashionable, small, slender woman" began 1991 with application to childishly slim supermodels such as Kate Moss.

双语例句

1. The director wants a waif-like, teenage girl with long, dark hair for the role.: 导演想要一个留着乌黑的长发、面黄肌瘦的十来岁女孩扮演这个角色。

2. Maybe I should play this needy, despondent waif card more often.: 也许我应该用用这个迷惑, 多需求的招牌.