wealth
/wɛlθ/ noun
Forms wealths wealthe welth welthe
- noun (uncountable, economics) Riches; a great amount of valuable assets or material possessions. “Money talks, but true wealth whispers.”
- noun (countable) A great amount; an abundance or plenty. “She brings a wealth of knowledge to the project.”
- noun (uncountable, obsolete) Prosperity; well-being; happiness.
Synonyms
abundance affluence cheese ease fortune substance Mammon opulence plenty richdom riches wealthiness
Antonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English welth, welthe (“happiness, prosperity”), from Old English *welþ, *welþu, from Proto-West Germanic *waliþu (“wealth”). Alternatively, possibly an alteration (due to similar words in -th: compare helth (“health”), derth (“dearth”)) of wele (“wealth, well-being, weal”), from Old English wela (“wealth, prosperity”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, prosperity”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“good, best”); equivalent to weal + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian wielde (“wealth”), Dutch weelde (“wealth”), Low German Weelde (“wealth”), Old High German welida, welitha (“wealth”). Related also to German Wohl (“welfare, well-being, weal”), Danish vel (“weal, welfare”), Swedish väl (“well-being, weal”). More at weal, well.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [Obs.] "Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth." 1 Cor. x. 24.
- noun Large possessions; a comparative abundance of things which are objects of human desire; esp., abundance of worldly estate; affluence; opulence; riches.
Etymology [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wealth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details