*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of weal

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

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Wealth, riches. · Welfare, prosperity. · Boon, benefit. · Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

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.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionweleenm
  • Inherited-form mentionwelaang · wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth
  • Inherited-form mention*welōgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*walôgem-pro · well-being, wellness, weal
  • Cognate mentionWohlde
  • Cognate mentionvelda
  • Cognate mentionvälsv
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "wele"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English wele"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "wela",
        "t": "wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*welō"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *welō"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*walô",
        "t": "well-being, wellness, weal"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Wohl"
      },
      "expansion": "German Wohl"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "vel"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish vel"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "väl"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish väl"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "wele",
      "wele#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "wela",
      "wela#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*welō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/welō"
    ],
    [
      "*walô",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/walô"
    ],
    [
      "Wohl",
      "Wohl#German"
    ],
    [
      "vel",
      "vel#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "väl",
      "väl#Swedish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Wealth, riches.",
        "Welfare, prosperity.",
        "Boon, benefit.",
        "Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "obsolete",
        "uncountable",
        "literary",
        "broadly"
      ],
      "recordId": "9703fa5a170558df985759f418c554d2634c569b13c7941fb5401ef5fb213465",
      "rawRecordSha256": "cca9ec2f1b7b6704e453ddcf32c92130f09ee63f6f71bb82c9e5faa3b680cc98",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 234511
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
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.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

See wale.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "wale",
      "wale#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "bd456f78b4536cb725c17a726585782b770d19d2fbe73eeeab3239dfb9c77af0",
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      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 234512
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To mark with stripes; to wale."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "c61257b4274185356f8daf05084ceae7c5022dc76bd8294191c4b091e4459a15",
      "rawRecordSha256": "ae76fce5d8f9ab66af1a7699b4aa92a518db6b6fb957da120a1caf9da217c83a",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 234513
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for weal →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-d2VhbA