weal
UK /wiːl/ · US /wil/ noun, verb
Forms weals wealing wealed
- noun (obsolete) Wealth, riches.
- noun (literary) Welfare, prosperity.
- noun (by extension) Boon, benefit.
- noun Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).
- noun A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.
- verb To mark with stripes; to wale.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English wele, from Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”), from Proto-West Germanic *welō, from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”). Cognate with German Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.
See wale.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The mark of a stripe. See Wale.
- verb To mark with stripes. See Wale.
- noun A sound, healthy, or prosperous state of a person or thing; prosperity; happiness; welfare.
- noun The body politic; the state; common wealth. [Obs.]
Etymology [OE. wele, AS. wela, weola, wealth, from wel well. See Well, adv., and cf. Wealth.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “weal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details