noun1. a person, esp a child, who is homeless, friendless, or neglected
2. anything found and not claimed, the owner being unknown
3. nautical another name for waft (sense 5)
4. law obsolete a stolen article thrown away by a thief during flight and forfeited to the Crown or to the lord of the manor
Word origin
C14: from Anglo-Norman, variant of Old Northern French
gaif, of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse
veif a flapping thing