wealth

• wealthe, welth, welthe (all obsolete)

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.

• IPA^(key): /wɛlθ/, [wɛl̪θ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlθ

wealth (countable and uncountable, plural wealths)

1. (uncountable, economics) Riches; a great amount of valuable assets or material possessions.
2. (countable) A great amount; an abundance or plenty.

   She brings a wealth of knowledge to the project.

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 269, about a church in Lower Peover:

     There is a wealth of carved wood inside: from pulpit to pews, screens to lectern, and a large medieval chest made from a hollowed-out log of bog-oak with a massive lid.

   • 2018 July 3, Ian Sample, “Routine DNA tests will put NHS at the 'forefront of medicine'”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     Beyond its aim to bring patients the most effective treatments faster, the service is expected to generate a wealth of data on the interplay between DNA, health and lifestyles, which will become a powerful tool for research into cancer and other diseases.

3. (uncountable, obsolete) Prosperity; well-being; happiness.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:

     I once did lend my body for his wealth, / Which, but for him that had your husband's ring, / Had quite miscarried: […]

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Corinthians 10:24:

     Let no man seek his own, but every man another's wealth.

• See also Thesaurus:wealth

• “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.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “wealth”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “wealth”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.