Standard Lemma guide

welfare

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

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.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈwɛlˌfɛə/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ˈwɛlˌfɛɚ/
  • CMU ARPABET: W EH1 L F EH2 R Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Shortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, informal, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: welfare assistance, income support, public assistance, social security

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To provide with welfare or aid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • welfaring the poor

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she lives on welfare

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: social welfare, public assistance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: aid, economic aid, financial aid

Narrower terms: social insurance, relief, dole, pogy, pogey

5

noun

Meaning 5

something that aids or promotes well-being

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • for the benefit of all

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: benefit

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: good, goodness

Narrower terms: advantage, reward, sake, interest

6

noun

Meaning 6

a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the town was finally on the upbeat after our recent troubles

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: wellbeing, well-being, upbeat, eudaemonia, eudaimonia

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: prosperity, successfulness

Narrower terms: fool's paradise, health, wellness

History

Etymology

From Middle English welefare, probably from the Old English phrase wel faran (“to fare well, get along successfully, prosper”) (cognate with Middle Dutch welvare (“welfare”), Middle Low German wolvare (“welfare”), Middle High German wolvar, wolfar (“welfare”)). Equivalent to well + fare. Compare also West Frisian wolfeart, Dutch welvaart, German Wohlfahrt, Old Norse velferð (whence Swedish välfärd (“welfare”)). The first recorded use in the sense of "social concern for the well-being of children, the unemployed, etc." is from 1904 and in the sense of "organized effort to provide for maintenance of members of a group" from 1918.

Across languages

Translations

98 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: رَفَاهَة (rafāha) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Arabic: خَيْر (ḵayr) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Belarusian: дабрабы́т (dabrabýt) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Belarusian: шча́сце (ščáscje) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Bulgarian: благополу́чие (blagopolúčie) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Bulgarian: благоде́нствие (blagodénstvie) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Catalan: benestar — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 福利 (fúlì) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 幸福 (xìngfú) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Chinese Mandarin: 康樂 /康乐 (kānglè) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Czech: blaho — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Czech: blahobyt — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Danish: lykke — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Danish: velfærd — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Dutch: welzijn — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Esperanto: bonstato — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Esperanto: bonfarto — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Finnish: hyvinvointi — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • French: bien-être m| — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Galician: benestar — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • German: Wohlergehen — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • German: Wohlfahrt — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Greek: ευημερία (evimería) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hebrew: רְוָחָה (r'vaẖá) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hindi: कल्याण (kalyāṇ) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hindi: कौशल (kauśal) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hindi: ख़ैर (xair) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hungarian: jólét — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Hungarian: boldogulás — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Indonesian: kesejahteraan — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Japanese: 幸せ (shiawase) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Japanese: 幸福 (kōfuku) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Japanese: 福祉 (fukushi) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Korean: 행복 (haengbok) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Korean: 복지 (bokji) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Latvian: labklājība — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Macedonian: благосостојба (blagosostojba) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Malay: کباجيقن (kebajikan) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Malayalam: ക്ഷേമം (kṣēmaṁ) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Māori: tokoora — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Norwegian Bokmål: velferd — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: velferd — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Persian: رفاه (refâh) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Plautdietsch: Heil — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Pohnpeian: kamwahu — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Polish: dobrobyt — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Portuguese: bem-estar — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Russian: благосостоя́ние (blagosostojánije) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Russian: благополу́чие (blagopolúčije) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Russian: сча́стье (sčástʹje) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Slovak: blaho — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Slovak: blahobyt — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Slovene: blaginja — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Spanish: bienestar — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Swedish: välfärd — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Tagalog: kagalingan — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Telugu: సంక్షేమము (saṅkṣēmamu) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Thai: สวัสดิภาพ (sà-wàt-dì-pâap) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Turkish: refah — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Turkish: gönenç — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ottoman Turkish: عمارت (ʼimaret) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ottoman Turkish: عمران (ʼümran) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ukrainian: благополу́ччя (blahopolúččja) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ukrainian: добро́бут (dobróbut) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ukrainian: благоде́нство (blahodénstvo) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Ukrainian: ща́стя (ščástja) — health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
  • Bulgarian: социа́лна по́мощ (sociálna pómošt) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Catalan: benestar — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 福利 (fúlì) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Chinese Mandarin: 社會福利 /社会福利 (shèhuì fúlì) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Danish: forsorg — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Finnish: sosiaaliavustus — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Finnish: sosiaalituki — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • French: aide sociale — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Galician: beneficencia — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Galician: seguridade social — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • German: Sozialhilfe — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • German: Wohlfahrt — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Greek: πρόνοια (prónoia) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Hungarian: segély — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Hungarian: juttatás — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Hungarian: támogatás — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Japanese: 福祉 (fukushi) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Khmer: ជំនួយសុខុមាលភាព (cumnuəy-sokhomiəlphiəp) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Korean: 복지 (bokji) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Macedonian: соција́лна помош (socijálna pomoš) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Māori: tokoora — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Polish: socjal — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Polish: zasiłek — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Portuguese: segurança social — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Russian: социа́льная по́мощь (sociálʹnaja pómoščʹ) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Slovak: sociálna pomoc — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Spanish: seguridad social — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Thai: สวัสดิการ (sà-wàt-dì-gaan) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Turkish: yardım — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Turkish: sosyal yardım — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Urdu: خیریت (xairiyat) — aid, provided by a government, etc.
  • Vietnamese: phúc lợi — aid, provided by a government, etc.
Real reading context

welfare in complete knowledge articles