weal

/wiːl/US/wil/

weal noun: wealth, riches.

Noun (1)

weal (uncountable)

(obsolete) Wealth, riches.
(literary) Welfare, prosperity.
- Therefore for Gods loue, and as we loue the weale of our Soules and Bodies, let us ſo behaue our ſelues, as we may be at peace with God, and may finde grace in the Eyes of this People.1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn]...
- For whom all this was made, all this will ſoon / Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe, [...]1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC...
(broadly) Boon, benefit.
- And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 557
Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).
- Yet never was there a time when it more concerned the public weal, that the character of the parliament should stand high.1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter IV, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 515
- The austerity of my tone seemed to touch a nerve and kindle the fire that always slept in this vermilion-headed menace to the common weal [...]1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter IV, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC

Noun (2)

weal (plural weals)

A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.
- [A]lthough a few [slaves] live comfortably at Paramaribo, the greateſt number are wretched, particularly thoſe governed by a lady, who have many weals to ſhow, but not the ſmallest indulgence to boaſt of.1796, J[ohn] G[abriel] Stedman, chapter XII, in Narrative of a Five Years’ Expedition against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the Wild Coast of South America; […], volume I, London...
- He turned as I struck him and fired full into my face, and the bullet left a weal across my cheek which will mark me to my dying day.1892, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “[The Great Shadow] The End of the Storm”, in The Great Shadow and Beyond the City, Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, […]; London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., →OCLC...
Synonyms:

wheal

Verb

weal (third-person singular simple present weals, present participle wealing, simple past and past participle wealed)

To mark with stripes; to wale.

weal meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada

weal in Urdu

آسائش, فلاح و بہبود, خیر, خوشحالی, سعادت, سلامت

weal in Kannada

ಗಾಯದ ಕೆಂಪು ಗುರುತು, ಬರೆ, ಬಾಸುಂಡೆ, ಗಾದರಿ, ಕ್ಷೇಮ, ಸುಖ

More languagesFewer languages

weal in Odia: ସମୃଦ୍ଧି samruddhi

Examples of weal in a sentence

It seemed so plain that if the workman had his master’s profit at heart, and the master were as anxious for the weal of his men, the interests of the two would be one.1919, Stanley J. Weyman, “XIII. Peter Pauper”, in The Great House:
Louis could aim to restyle himself the first among citizens, viewing virtuous attachment to the public weal as his most important kingly duty.2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 372:
He had been slashed sixteen times by mighty boars, and his legs had white weals of shiny flesh that stretched right up to his ribs.1958, T. H. White, chapter 16, in The Once and Future King, London: Collins, published 1959:

Synonyms of weal

wheal

Forms of weal

Noun
plural	weals
Verb
third-person singular present	weals
present participle	wealing
past participle	wealed
past	wealed

Origin 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 Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.

See wale.

Words formed from weal

Phrases with weal

common weal

Words that rhyme with weal

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about weal

What does weal mean?: Weal means wealth, riches.
What is weal in Tamil?: Weal in Tamil is நீர்க்கொப்புளம். See Weal meaning in Tamil.
How do you use weal in a sentence?: It seemed so plain that if the workman had his master’s profit at heart, and the master were as anxious for the weal of his men, the interests of the two would be one.
What part of speech is weal?: Weal can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce weal?: Weal is pronounced /wiːl/ (UK).
What is the plural of weal?: The plural of weal is weals.

Words near weal in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: weal (page history and authors); weal (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); weal (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); weal (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); weal (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ସମୃଦ୍ଧି (Odia) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-weal.wav.

Cite this entry: “weal.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/weal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.