Etymology Dictionary

WAIVE,   to relinquish, abandon a claim.  (F.,—Scand.)   Chiefly in the phr. 'to waive a claim,' as in Cotgrave (see below).   M. E. waiuen, weiuen (with u = v), a difficult and rather vague word, chiefly in the sense 'to set aside' or 'shun,' also 'to remove' or 'push aside;' see P. Plowman, B. v. 611 (where the MS. may be read wayne); id. B. xx. 167; Chaucer, C. T. 4728, 9357, 10298, 17127, 17344, Troil. ii. 284; Gower, C. A. i. 276, l. 5.—O. F. waiver*, not recorded, though it must have been common in old statutes; later guesver, 'to waive, refuse, abandon, give over, surrender, resigne;' Cot.   The O. F. waif, sb., is given by Roquefort in the form wayve, though he probably really met with it in the pl. form wayves; since he also records the form gaif, pl. gaives, where g stands for an older w.   Ducange gives Low Lat. waviare, to waive, abandon, wayvium, a waif, or a beast without an owner, vayvus, adj., abandoned as a waif, which are merely Latinised forms of the F. words; and he remarks that these words are of common occurrence.   β. It is not quite clear whether waif is from waive, or waive from waif, but they are closely allied, and of Norman, i.e. Norse origin.—Icel. veifa, to vibrate, swing about, move to and fro in a loose way; Norw. veiva, to swing about.   Hence the sense 'to go loose;' much as in the mod. E. slang phrase to hang about, and in E. hover. + O. H. G. weibón, M. H. G. weiben, waiben, to fluctuate, swing about.   γ. The Teut. type is WAIBYAN, to fluctuate, hover (Fick. iii. 305); from the Teut. WIB, to vibrate, answering to Aryan ✔WIP, to vibrate, swing about; see Vibrate.   And see Waif.   ➩ Distinct from wave, despite some similarity in the sense; but the words have been confused.

ADDENDA

Anglo-F. weyver, weiver; the pt. t. weyva occurs in the Year-Books of Edw. I. i. 205, and the pp. weive in the same, p. 55.   The outlawry of a female is called weyverie, Lib. Albus, p. 190.