gamin
A homeless boy; a male street urchin; also (more generally), a cheeky, street-smart boy.
dated
Dearest Eloise,— There is one little and perhaps insignificant French cake, which I feel certain would soon become a favourite in the cottage, more particularly amongst its juvenile inhabitants. It is the famed galette, the melodramatic food of the gamins, galopins, mechanics, and semi-artists of France.
Where it comes from
Borrowed from French gamin (“a street urchin; a young boy”), apparently an “eastern dialect” word of unknown origin.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry gamin (CC BY-SA 4.0).