weal

[ weel ]

/ wil /

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See synonyms for weal on Thesaurus.com

noun

well-being, prosperity, or happiness: the public weal;weal and woe.

Obsolete. wealth or riches.

Obsolete. the body politic; the state.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of weal

First recorded before 900; Middle English wele, Old English wela; akin to well¹

Other definitions for weal (2 of 2)

weal²

[ weel ]

/ wil /

noun

wheal (def. 2).

Origin of weal

Variant of wale¹, with ea of wheal

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use weal in a sentence

I turned, every bone in my body ached: the weals of the stirrup-leathers smarted and burned.
In Kings' Byways|Stanley J. Weyman
If I was to bare my arm now I could show you weals that's more colours and brighter than your neckankercher there.
M. or N. "Similia similibus curantur."|G.J. Whyte-Melville
At the end of the dance, the boys' backs are seamed with wounds and weals, the scars of which remain through life.
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa|David Livingstone
Great livid weals crossed each other on the back, and two of the fingers were gone.
Bert Wilson's Twin Cylinder Racer|J. W. Duffield

There, too, on the skin, were visible the weals of the daily scourgings by which the Archbishop mortified the flesh.
The Ingoldsby Country|Charles G. (Charles George) Harper

British Dictionary definitions for weal (1 of 2)

weal¹

/ (wiːl) /

noun

a raised mark on the surface of the body produced by a blowAlso called: wale, welt, wheal

Word Origin for weal

C19: variant of wale 1, influenced in form by wheal

British Dictionary definitions for weal (2 of 2)

weal²

/ (wiːl) /

noun

archaic prosperity or wellbeing (now esp in the phrases the public weal, the common weal)

obsolete the state

obsolete wealth

Word Origin for weal

Old English wela; related to Old Saxon welo, Old High German wolo

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

weal

Origin of weal

Other definitions for weal (2 of 2)

Origin of weal

Words related to weal

How to use weal in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for weal (1 of 2)

Word Origin for weal

British Dictionary definitions for weal (2 of 2)

Word Origin for weal