Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Waive \Waive\, n. [See {Waive}, v. t. ]
   1. A waif; a castaway. [Obs.] --Donne.

   2. (O. Eng. Law) A woman put out of the protection of the
      law. See {Waive}, v. t., 3
      (b), and the Note.

Waive \Waive\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Waived}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Waiving}.] [OE. waiven, weiven, to set aside, remove, OF.
   weyver, quesver, to waive, of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. veifa
   to wave, to vibrate, akin to Skr. vip to tremble. Cf.
   {Vibrate}, {Waif}.] [Written also {wave}.]
   1. 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.

   2. To throw away; to cast off; to reject; to desert.

   3. (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.

Waive \Waive\, v. i.
   To turn aside; to recede. [Obs.]

         To waive from the word of Solomon.       --Chaucer.

Source : WordNet®

waive
     v 1: do without or cease to hold or adhere to; "We are dispensing
          with formalities"; "relinquish the old ideas" [syn: {relinquish},
           {forgo}, {foreswear}, {dispense with}]
     2: lose or lose the right to by some error, offense, or crime
        [syn: {forfeit}, {give up}, {throw overboard}, {forgo}]
        [ant: {claim}]