English Online Dictionary. What means wealth? What does wealth mean?
English
Alternative forms
- wealthe, welth, welthe (all obsolete)
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English welth, welthe (“happiness, prosperity”), from Old English *welþ, weleþu, 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. Cognate with 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.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /wɛlθ/, [wɛl̪θ]
- Rhymes: -ɛlθ
Noun
wealth (countable and uncountable, plural wealths)
- (uncountable, economics) Riches; a great amount of valuable assets or material possessions.
- (countable) A great amount; an abundance or plenty.
- (uncountable, obsolete) Prosperity; well-being; happiness.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:wealth
Derived terms
Translations
References
- “wealth”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- wealth in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
- "wealth" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 331.
- “wealth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “wealth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.