waive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English weiven,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman weyver (“to abandon, waive”),^{[2][3][4][6][7]} a dialect variant of Old French gaiver, also guesver, to let something become a waif, to abandon,^[2][8][9][7] from weyf, Old French gaif (“ownerless, lost”),^[2][6][4][5] the source of waif.^[6] Ayto describes waiving something as, in origin, making a waif of it.^[6] The Anglo-Norman noun is probably of Scandinavian origin,^[6][4][10] with the first sense "something loose or wandering", compared with Old Norse veif (“something flapping or waving”) and veifa (“to wave, vibrate”).^[2][10] Barnhart and Etymonline instead take the verb itself as probably from a Scandinavian source akin to veifa,^[11][3] which Barnhart traces to Proto-Germanic *waibijaną, cognate with Old English wǣfan (“to clothe”) and Old High German -weiben (“to disperse”),^[11] from Proto-Indo-European *weip- (“to turn, vacillate, tremble”).^[3][11][10] Weekley thought the origin obscure, and suggested veita (“to give, grant”).^[12] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from 1212, for abandoning a claim, a place or a person, and for surrendering rights.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

To deprive someone of the protection of the law, to outlaw: 1297, in Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle,^[2] about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[3][11]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English legal language the word was used of rights, goods and women.^[3] Since women did not take the oath of allegiance, they could not strictly be outlawed and were said to be waived instead,^[3] a restricted use the OED records from 1457.^[2] More generally the verb meant to abandon, leave or forsake a person, place, habit, faith or task (about 1330 to the 17th century), and to give up an intention.^[2][7] The modern legal sense, to give up a right or claim, appears about 1469 in the Stonor Letters,^[2][11] and Ayto dates this use to the 15th century;^[6] from it came the general "refrain from insisting on" (1620s)^[3] and, in the 17th century, to refrain from enforcing a rule.^[7] The noun waiver, the giving up of a right, followed in 1628.^[11] The OED derives a Middle English waive, to wave or swing (1338–1570), directly from Old Norse veifa, and Johnson (1755) still spelled the verb wave.^[2] In Scots, waive meant to wield a tool, and waive up to raise a window.^[14]

Timeline

• 1212 – Anglo-Norman weyver, to abandon or surrender a claim.^[13]
• 1297 – to outlaw (obsolete).^[2]
• 1303 – to cast aside, forsake (the truth, one's faith); obsolete by 1657.^[2]
• c. 1330 – to abandon, desert (a person or place); obsolete by 1450.^[2]
• 1457 – to outlaw (a woman).^[2]
• c. 1469 – to give up a right or claim.^[2][11]
• 1530 – to abandon (stolen goods).^[2]
• 1628 – the noun waiver.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To give up (a right or claim) voluntarily; to relinquish: He waived his right to a lawyer.^[15][5][2]
2. To refrain from enforcing or applying (a rule, fee or penalty): The bank waived the late charge.^[15][5]
3. To put off or defer.^[15]
4. (law, historical) To outlaw (a woman).^[5][2]
5. (obsolete) To abandon, forsake or give up (a person, place, custom or intention).^[2][5]

Word family

• waiver

Related words

• waif
• wave

Usage notes

Dictionary.com lists waive among words confused with wave.^[16]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House