What does "waive" mean?
Waive: (O. Eng. Law) A woman put out of the protection of the law. See Waive, v. t., 3 (b), and the Note.
Additional senses
- 2.To relinquish; to give up claim to; not to insist on or claim; to refuse; to forego. He waiveth milk, and flesh, and all. Chaucer. We absolutely do renounce or waive our own opinions, absolutely yielding to the direction of others. Barrow.
- 3.To throw away; to cast off; to reject; to desert.
- 4.(Law) (a) To throw away; to relinquish voluntarily, as a right which one may enforce if he chooses. (b) (O. Eng. Law) To desert; to abandon. Burrill. Note: The term was applied to a woman, in the same sense as outlaw to a man. A woman could not be outlawed, in the proper sense of the word, because, according to Bracton, she was never in law, that is, in a frankpledge or decennary; but she might be waived, and held as abandoned. Burrill.
- 5.To turn aside; to recede. [Obs.] To waive from the word of Solomon. Chaucer.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00