noun
Meaning 1
Wealth, riches.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
weal
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: wēl
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Received-Pronunciation: /wiːl/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /wil/
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homophone: we'll
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homophone: wheal
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homophone: wheel (wine–whine merger)
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rhymes with -iːl
noun
Meaning 2
Welfare, prosperity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: literary, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
Boon, benefit.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: broadly, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wheal
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To mark with stripes; to wale.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
a raised mark on the skin (as produced by the blow of a whip); characteristic of many allergic reactions
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: wale, welt, wheal
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: injury, hurt, harm, trauma
History
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.
Across languages
Translations
31 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Bulgarian: благоденствие (blagodenstvie) — community welfare
- Chinese Mandarin: 幸福 (xìngfú) — community welfare
- Chinese Mandarin: 福利 (fúlì) — community welfare
- Czech: blaho — community welfare
- Finnish: hyvinvointi — community welfare
- Finnish: hyvä — community welfare
- Plautdietsch: Wool — community welfare
- Polish: dobrobyt — community welfare
- Polish: pomyślność — community welfare
- Russian: благосостоя́ние (blagosostojánije) — community welfare
- Russian: бла́го (blágo) — community welfare
- Spanish: bien común — community welfare
- Swedish: väl — community welfare
- Swedish: välstånd — community welfare
- Turkish: gönenç — community welfare
- Czech: šlinc — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Czech: šlehanec — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Czech: šrám — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Czech: podlitina — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Dutch: striem — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- German: Strieme — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Ancient Greek: μώλωψ (mṓlōps) — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Ancient Greek: σμῶδιξ (smôdix) — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Irish: léas — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Italian: pomfo — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Latin: vībex — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Māori: kārawarawa — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Polish: szrama — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Polish: pręga — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Russian: рубе́ц (rubéc) — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip
- Spanish: roncha — a raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by stroke of rod or whip