What does waive mean?
Waive is a formal verb meaning to voluntarily give up a right or to decide not to enforce a rule, requirement, fee, or other condition. It is especially common in legal, institutional, and administrative contexts: a court may waive a procedural requirement, while a university or employer may waive an application fee or eligibility condition. Unlike simply declining an option, waiving usually implies a deliberate choice not to insist on something that could otherwise be claimed or required. The word is transitive and normally takes the thing being given up or set aside. In general use, waive is concise and formal, and it is especially suited to describing the suspension of a legal or administrative entitlement rather than the abandonment of an ordinary personal interest.
verbTo voluntarily give up or refrain from asserting a right, claim, privilege, or requirement; to dispense with something.
- To voluntarily give up or relinquish a right, claim, privilege, or protection.
- To decide not to enforce or apply a rule, requirement, fee, or condition.
- To forgo something one would otherwise be entitled to do or have.
"The university waived the application fee for first-generation students."
"The university waived the application fee for first-generation students."
"The chair waived the requirement that every amendment be submitted 48 hours in advance."
In law and administration, waive means to let a rule stand down—but never to wave goodbye to the person who wrote it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of waive
Waive entered Middle English from Anglo-French waiver, meaning “to waive,” which developed from Medieval Latin waiver. The precise ultimate origin of the medieval Latin form is uncertain, so it should not confidently be assigned to a particular classical language.
Related word forms
How waive is actually used
The word is transitive and normally takes the right, rule, fee, condition, or protection being given up or set aside. It is common in legal, governmental, academic, and workplace contexts. It is generally more formal than forgo and often implies that the person or institution could have insisted on the relevant right or requirement.
Easily confused with waive
To waive something is to give up a right or dispense with a rule, whereas to wave is to move a hand or body in a greeting or gesture.