waif in Swedish

(Britain, law, archaic) An article of movable property which has been found, and of which the owner is not known, such as goods washed up on a beach or thrown away by an absconding thief; such items belong to the Crown, which may grant the right of ownership to them to a lord of a manor.

A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.