Home › Glossary › Letter W

waif

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A waif is a person, especially a child, who is homeless or abandoned, often evoking sympathy.

Detailed Definition
The word waif traditionally refers to a homeless or abandoned person, often a child, and carries connotations of vulnerability and fragility. In the context of the poem, the speaker identifies as a 'waif on the somnolent lake,' suggesting feelings of isolation and longing for belonging amidst the tranquil yet desolate setting.
Example
Example in poetry:
In older usage, a waif is a stray, abandoned, or homeless person, especially a child: “a waif on the somnolent lake”; Dickens’s Oliver Twist helped establish the cultural image of the urban waif, though his work is prose rather than poetry; “The streetlamp found a waif asleep beside the market gate” uses the term’s vulnerable social meaning; Contemporary writers may use waif cautiously, since its sentimental tone can reduce a person to helplessness
Additional Notes
The speaker's identification as a 'waif' highlights their sense of loneliness and disconnection from the world.; Found in the poem, In the Past by Trumbull Stickney
Also Known As
stray orphan forsaken child
Skip to main content