welfare
Plural: welfaras, welfares
Noun
- The health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.
- governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need
- "she lives on welfare"
- something that aids or promotes well-being
- a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous
- Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
- Shortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
Verb
- To provide with welfare or aid.
Examples
- A good Scrabble player considers the welfare of their rack before making a move.
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English welefare, probably from the Old English phrase wel faran (“to fare well, get along successfully, prosper”) (cognate with Middle Dutch welvare (“welfare”), Middle Low German wolvare (“welfare”), Middle High German wolvar, wolfar (“welfare”)). Equivalent to well + fare. Compare also West Frisian wolfeart, Dutch welvaart, German Wohlfahrt, Old Norse velferð (whence Swedish välfärd (“welfare”)). The first recorded use in the sense of "social concern for the well-being of children, the unemployed, etc." is from 1904 and in the sense of "organized effort to provide for maintenance of members of a group" from 1918.
Synonyms
benefit, eudaemonia, eudaimonia, public assistance, social welfare, upbeat, well-being, wellbeing, income support, social security, welfare assistance
Antonyms
ill-being
Scrabble Score: 13
welfare: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordwelfare: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
welfare: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary