wealth
(wɛlθ)
Forms: 3 welðe, welðhe, 3–5 welþe, (4 weolthe, -þe), 3–7 welth, (3 weltht, 5 welt), 4–5 welþ, 4–6 Sc. velth, 6 Sc. veltht, 4–6 welthe, (6 wellthe), 6 wealthe, (7 waelth), 5– wealth.
[ME. welþe, f. well adv. or weal n.1 + -th1, on the analogy of health. Parallel formations are MDu. weelde, welde (mod.Du. weelde), MLG. welede (mod.LG. welde), OHG. welida.]
† 1. The condition of being happy and prosperous; well-being. Obs. (exc. arch.). a. of a person.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1550 And bad him [Esau] of his kindes louerd ben, In welðe and miȝt wurðinge ðen. a 1300 Cursor M. 755 Adam ȝode walkand in þat welth. c 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1288, 1290 And in welthe men wald ay be; Bot parfit men, þat þair lif right ledes, Welthe of þe worlde ay flese and dredes. Ibid. 1293 Worldly welthe. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xiii. (1495) 197 Noo man hath more welth [L. nullus est felicior] than he that hath a gode woman to his wyfe. c 1450 Merlin xxxiii. 680 The grete love that I haue to you hath made me forsake alle other.., for with-oute yow haue I neither ioye ne welthe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. xxxvii. 400 But whanne sekenes toucheth a prysoners body thenne may a prysoner say al welthe is hym berafte. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. Pref., Aboue all thynges, wherby mans welthe ryseth, speciall laude and cause ought to be gyuen to historie. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. x. 24 Lett no man seke his awne prophet: but lett every man seke his neghbours welthe. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer 122 To preserue thy people..in wealth, peace, and Godlynes. Ibid. 122 b, In all tyme of our tribulacion, in all tyme of our wealth. 1559 ― Prayer for Queen 12 Graunt her in health and wealthe longe to liue. 1592 Soliman & Pers. v. i. 24 Vpon great affaires, Importuning health and wealth of Soliman, His highnes by me intreateth you. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 249, I once did lend my bodie for thy wealth. 1596 C. Fitzgeffrey Drake (1881) 104 And o long may wee have them, and enioy These worthies to our wealth, and thine annoy. |
b. Contrasted with
woe,
wandreth,
care.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23981 Wede o welth wil i namar, Clething wil i me tak o care. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2462 Welþe a-wey to wo þou [Fortune] strykes. 1357 Lay Folks' Catech. (T.) 433 Euenly to sofir the wele and the wa, Welthe or wandreth, whethir so betides. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche iv. 124 Wherfore in welthe beware of woo. a 1542 Wyatt Epigr. xxiv. (1908) 51, I trust somtyme my harme may be my helth, Syns euery wo is ioynid to some welth. a 1566 R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) H iij b, In wealth a double ioye, in woe a present stay, A sweete compagnion in eche state true Friend⁓ship is alway. |
c. Of the world, a country, town, community, its people or members; hence (the common or public) welfare.
Cf. commonwealth 1,
public a. 2 a.
| 1390 Gower Conf. Prol. 95 The world stod thanne in al his welthe: Tho was the lif of man in helthe, Tho was plente, tho was richesse. 1456 Cov. Leet Bk. 290 Your own souerayn lorde & kynge..Whome God..preserve in good helthe..to this landys welthe! c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1610 Was neuir befor..Sic welth and pes at anys in the land. 1490 Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 126 In divers matiers concernyng the welth of the same Town. 1521 Cov. Leet Bk. 672 For the worship of the Cyte or the welthe of the Craft. c 1530 L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 46 That the maker of the lawe apply his hole studye to the welth of his subiectes. 1550 J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §153 (1877) 101 You enpeche the welth of marchaundise, pyllyng and robbyng the christen people. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. vi. (1895) 218 The inuentyon of feates, helpynge annye thynge to the aduantage and wealthe of lyffe. 1552 Huloet, Wealthe of a comminaltye, bonum publicum, respublica. 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 454 He alwaies studied the wealth of his people. 1607 in M. H. Peacock Hist. Wakefield Grammar Sch. iv. (1892) 56 And when I shall knowe any thinge..that..toucheth the welth or good order of this schole, I will call my fellowe governours together. |
d. An instance or kind of prosperity; a felicity, blessing. Chiefly
pl. The
pl. is also used as in 3 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23432 O welthes mar mai na man tell, þan haf to will o welth þe well. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1319 For angres mans lyf clenses, and proves, And welthes his lif trobles and droves. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 86 Whi is þis world biloued þat fals is & veyn, Siþen þat hise welþis ben so unserteyn? 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxxxii. 88 b/2 They sayd howe the noble men of the realme of Fraunce, knyghtes and squyers shamed the realme, and that it shulde be a great welth to dystroy them all. 1548 Patten Exped. Scot. Pref. d j b, Whyche shoulde be greatly for the wealthes of vs bothe. 1560 Irish Act 2 Eliz. c. 5 §1 That it hath pleased God..to preserue and keepe for vs and our wealths your royall Maiestie..to raigne ouer vs. a 1652 Brome Queen & C. iii. ii, And show The Elder sort how to improve Their Wealths by Neighbour-hood and Love. |
† e. Used for: State, government (of a nation):
= weal n.1 3 b.
Obs. rare.
| a 1682 Sir T. Browne Misc. Tracts x. (1683) 160 Julius Cæsar..was once in mind to translate the Roman wealth unto it [Troy]. |
† 2. Spiritual well-being. Often in the testamentary phrase
for the wealth of (one's) soul.
Obs.| c 1400 Lay-Folks Mass-Bk. 30 (MS. F) And alle that hit hereth to here soules helthe, Thu [Lord] help hem with thi grace and thi welthe. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 652 For the helthe of her owne sowle and the welthe of her husbond. 1463 in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 201 And where as there can nott be soo hasty recompense as nedid for the welth of my soule therefore [etc.]. 1483 Act 1 Rich. III c. 2 §1 Such memorialles as they had ordeigned to be done for the welth of their soules. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 It is all thynges that necessaryly is requyred to the welthe and helthe of mannes soule. 1537 Instit. Christen Man A 7, I Beleue..that this Christe..liued..and..suffred..for our sakes, and for our welthe. 1540 R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1541) 76 b, She..procured both suche as was for the welthe of his soule, and prepared holsome meates for his body. 1553 Primer, Prayer Adversity V iij, As shal be moste metest and agreable to thyne honor and glory & to my moste perfecte wealth and euerlastynge saluacion. |
3. a. Prosperity consisting in abundance of possessions; ‘worldly goods’, valuable possessions,
esp. in great abundance: riches, affluence.
In
mod. use
wealth tends to be felt as a stronger term than
riches.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 796 God gaf him ðor siluer and gold, And hird, and orf, and srud, and sat, Vn-achteled welðe he ðor bi-gat. Ibid. 2374 Of alle egiptes welðhe best Gaf he is breðere. a 1275 Prov. ælfred 382 Werldes welðe to wurmes shal wurþien. 1352 Minot Poems vii. 153 For here es welth inogh to win, To make vs riche for euermore. a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 3582 Oure boundis ere barrayne and bare and þine full of welth. 1447 O. Bokenham Seyntys, St. Faith 303 Alle these profers hye Of wurshyp welt or of dygnyte Wych dacyan hym hycht he set not a stye. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 394 Quhen he had warit all on me his welth, et his substance Me thoght his wit wes all went away with the laif. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 51 For all this warldis welth and gude, Can na thing ryche thy celsitude. 1570 Levins Manip. 59/6 Welth, abundantia rerum. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 7 What art thou man..That..these rich heapes of wealth doest hide apart From the worldes eye? 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 13 Iulia. What think'st thou of the rich Mercatio? Lucetta. Well of his wealth; but of himselfe, so, so. 1639 J. Clarke Parœm. 99 Wealth makes worship. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 722 When ægypt with Assyria strove In wealth and luxurie. 1701 De Foe Trueborn Eng. i. (1703) 13 Wealth, howsoever got, in England makes Lords of Mechanicks, Gentlemen of Rakes. 1746 Francis tr. Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 45 He..sack'd a royal Fort, Replete with various Wealth. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. xi, My female companion..at first remonstrated against it: but upon producing my wealth, she immediately consented. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 62 His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Study Nat. (1799) II. 577 There the man of wealth would be instructed really to practise virtue. 1809 Campbell Gertrude ii. xxiv, More than all the wealth that loads the breeze, When Coromandel's ships return from Indian seas. 1833 Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 61 In glowing health, with boundless wealth. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop vii, Sole inheritor of the wealth of this rich old hunks. 1861 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 All this material wealth and splendour was of course in official connexion with the Church. |
| personified. 1712 Budgell Spect. No. 506 ¶2, I have somewhere met with a Fable that made Wealth the Father of Love. 1813 Byron Giaour 344 Alike must Wealth and Poverty Pass heedless and unheeded by. |
† b. in
pl., with reference to more than one possessor.
Obs.| c 1530 Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. (1536) 157 b, Many leaue dyuers welthes that they haue in straunge landes, and lyue straitly, for to lyue in their owne land. 1574 Mirr. Mag., Albanact lxiii, To late you shall repent the act When all my realme, and all your wealthes are sackt. 1650 Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars ii. 48 He would be supported by the counsels and wealths of forrein Princes. |
† c. pl. Things in which material riches consist; rich and costly goods or possessions; luxuries.
Obs.| 1352 Minot Poems x. 11 In holl þan þai hided grete welthes,..Of gold and of siluer, of skarlet and grene. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 83 Þe more he wynneth and welt welthes & ricchesse. c 1400 Sege Melayne 801 The Bischoppe..pyghte Pauylyons with mekill pryde, With wyne & welthes at will. c 1450 Holland Howlat 847 All thus thir hathillis in hall heirly remanit, With all welthis at wiss, and worschipe to vale. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1895) 106 Lawes, wherby all men shoulde haue and enioye equall portions of welthes and commodities. |
d. Abundance of possessions or of valuable products, as characteristic of a people, country, or region; the collective riches of a people or country.
The phrase
the wealth of nations had some currency before it was adopted by Adam Smith in the title of his famous work; but its early history is obscure.
| 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab., To Duchess of York 20 The Winds were hush'd, the Waves in ranks were cast..: Those, yet uncertain on whose Sails to blow, These, where the wealth of Nations ought to flow. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 2 High on a Throne of Royal State, which far Outshon the wealth of Ormus and of Ind. a 1687 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 35 'Tis suppos'd that the Wealth of Ireland is about the 1/8 or 1/10 of that of England. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. i. i. 126 Their Country's wealth our mightier Misers drain. 1739 C'tess of Hertford Corr. (1805) I. 152 He declared that he would rather live upon his small annuity all his days, than marry a woman he did not previously love, though she possessed the wealth of the Indies. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 202 ¶6 To be poor, in the epic language, is only not to command the wealth of nations. 1757 [Burke] Europ. Settlem. Amer. vii. xxviii. 274 Our American colonies..pour in upon us a wealth of another kind..from their fisheries. 1776 A. Smith (title), An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 1778 Johnson 17 Apr. in Boswell, As the Spanish proverb says, ‘He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.’ 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. v. i. 14 A city which has open'd India's wealth To Europe. 1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne xxv, Not for all the wealth of India would he have given up his lamb to that young wolf. |
e. said of a specific commodity as the chief source of a country's riches. Also with defining word, indicating a particular source.
| 1645 Sir R. Weston Husb. Brabant (1652) 7 That Land is natural to bear Flax, which is called the Wealth of Flanders. 1854 J. D. Whitney (title), The Metallic Wealth of the United States Described and Compared with that of other Countries. |
f. fig.| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 257, I freely told you all the wealth I had Ran in my vaines; I was a Gentleman. Ibid. iii. v. 61 Yet more quarrelling with occasion, wilt thou shew the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant. a 1627 Middleton Witch ii. i, O honestie's a rare wealth in a woman, It knowes no want. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis iv. 488 To Help seems all his Power, his Wealth to Give; To do much Good his sole Prerogative. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 207 Beneath him..he views..To all delight of human sense expos'd..Nature's whole wealth. 1675 Dryden Aurengz. iii. (1676) 47 Whom Heav'n would bless, from Pomp it will remove, And make their wealth in privacy and Love. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. 158 Those who come last [in the Roll of Time], seem to enter with Advantage. They are born to the Wealth of Antiquity. a 1771 Gray Death Hoel 9 He ask'd no heaps of hoarded gold; Alone in Nature's wealth array'd, He ask'd and had the lovely maid. 1820 Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 12 There is no time more..prolific of intellectual wealth. 1868 T. T. Lynch Rivulet cxlix. iii. (ed. 3), Then darkening heavens disclose Their starry wealth. |
† g. Condition with regard to riches or poverty; degree of wealthiness.
Obs.| 1607 Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe i. ii, It shall then bee giuen out, that I'me a Gentlewoman of such a birth, such a wealth,..and so foorth. 1662 Petty Taxes & Contrib. 16 Ignorance of the Number, Trade, and Wealth of the people, is often the reason why the said people are needlesly troubled. |
4. Economics. A collective term for those things the abundant possession of which (by a person or a community) constitutes riches, or ‘wealth’ in the popular sense.
There has been much controversy among economists as to the precise extent of meaning in which the term should be used. The definition that has been most widely accepted is that of Mill (
quot. 1848 below).
| 1821 Torrens Ess. Product. Wealth i. 3 When we say, a man of wealth, the term implies quantity, and signifies an abundance of the comforts and luxuries of life. But when we say, agriculture is a source of wealth, the accessory idea of quantity is not implied, and the term comprises the products of agriculture, whether they be raised from one acre or from a million; whether they are capable of subsisting an individual, or a nation. 1825 Bentham Ration. Reward 237 All wealth is either the spontaneous production of the earth, or the result of labour, employed in the cultivation of the earth or upon the materials which it yields. 1832 H. Martineau Life in Wilds ii. 23 Whatever lives, or grows, or can be produced, that is necessary or useful, or agreeable to mankind, is wealth. 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. I. Prel. Rem. 8 Money, being the instrument of an important public and private purpose, is rightly regarded as wealth; but everything else which serves any human purpose, and which nature does not afford gratuitously, is wealth also. Ibid. 9 To an individual, anything is wealth, which, though useless in itself, enables him to claim from others a part of their stock of things useful or pleasant. Take for instance, a mortgage of a thousand pounds on a landed estate. This is wealth to the person to whom it brings in a revenue... But it is not wealth to the country; if the engagement were annulled, the country would be neither poorer nor richer. Ibid. 10 Wealth, then, may be defined, all useful or agreeable things which possess exchangeable value; or in other words, all useful or agreeable things except those which can be obtained, in the quantity desired, without labour or sacrifice. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 87 An attempt..was made to bring the production and distribution of wealth under the moral rule of right and wrong. 1883 H. Sidgwick Pol. Econ. i. iii. 71 The wealth of any individual is considered to include all useful things—whether material things, as food, clothes, houses, &c., or immaterial things as debts, patents, copyrights, &c.—which..admit of being sold at a certain price. This aggregate is suitably measured by its exchange value; the common standard of value, money, being taken for convenience' sake. 1891 Scrivener Fields & Cities xx. 194 The Companies Acts..have not, and will not, create wealth; it is not the function of law to create wealth,—only to regulate its distribution. Wealth is created..by labour. 1920 A. W. Kirkaldy Wealth 15 If this definition [Mill's] be accepted, the importance of abundance disappears. Wealth may be a very small as well as a very big thing. A single pin..has exchange value, it is useful, and is therefore wealth... So is a motor-car or a fine yacht or an Atlantic liner. |
5. Plenty, abundance, profusion (
of what is specified). Also, the condition of abounding
in something valuable.
| 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 42 The firth..quhair gret welth of Salmonte. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxxiii, And they hae walth o' beef, that's ae thing certain, for here's a raw hide that has been about the hurdies o' a stot not half an hour syne. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. Concl. xxvi, Again the feast, the speech,..the wealth Of words and wit. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 48 This wealth of silver, gold, and gems, that adorned the shrines of the saints. 1874 Sayce Compar. Philol. vi. 217 The manifold wealth of articulate speech. 1882 Rhys Celtic Brit. i. 21 There is no reason, however, to suppose that the great wealth of the country in iron ore had been discovered by Cæsar's time. 1894 Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 218 With..dark Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black hair. |
6. attrib. and
Comb. (chiefly objective and
obj. gen.), as
wealth-acquiring,
wealth-bearing,
wealth-centre,
wealth-creating,
wealth-creation,
wealth-creator,
wealth-despising,
wealth-getting,
wealth-holder,
wealth-maker,
wealth-making,
wealth-monger,
wealth-owner,
wealth-producing,
wealth-store,
wealth-worship,
wealth-yield,
wealth-yielding;
wealth-fantasy; instrumental, as
wealth-elated,
wealth-encumbered,
wealth-fraught;
† wealth boastingly adv., in a way that shows pride in wealth;
wealth tax, a tax levied on the basis of a person's capital or financial assets.
| 1879 Geo. Eliot Theo. Such xviii. 346 The predominance of *wealth-acquiring immigrants. |
| 1865 J. Macgregor Rob Roy on Baltic (1867) 269 The mighty, *wealth-bearing Thames. |
| 1593 Nashe Christ's T. T 3, Nothing about them but is *wealth-boastingly & elaborately beautified. |
| 1890 O. Crawfurd Round Calend. Portugal 19 The first stronghold and *wealth-centre of this ancient kingdom. |
| 1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) x. 110 In the Roman world the army was the work force of a mechanized *wealth-creating process. |
| 1892 F. W. Bain (title), On the Principle of *Wealth-creation. |
| 1740 J. Dyer Ruins of Rome 330 Th' humble roof..Of good Evander, *wealth-despising king. |
| 1801 Mrs. Robinson Sylphid II. 149 (Jod.) The report..awakened the jealousy of the *wealth-elated baronet. |
| 1844 Ld. Leigh Walks in Country 79 A *wealth-encumber'd Peer. |
| 1940 ‘G. Orwell’ in Horizon Mar. 181 This kind of thing is a perfectly deliberate incitement to *wealth-fantasy. |
| 1798 B. Johnson Orig. Poems 30 *Wealth-fraught keels in safety cut the seas. |
| 1904 R. T. Ely & Wicker Elem. Princ. Economics 3 Those social phenomena that are due to the *wealth-getting and wealth-using activities of man. |
| 1957 A. C. L. Day Outl. Monetary Econ. ii. 19 Similar considerations will influence many other *wealth-holders. 1980 TWA Ambassador Oct. 14/1 Much of the growth in the number of wealthholders in the United States has been among the affluent, but clearly non-wealthy middle-class and upper-middle-class households. |
| 1899 Daily Tel. 11 Oct. 8/7 The *wealth-makers whom he always hated. |
| 1964 M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) x. 111 The Roman Army as a mobile, industrial *wealth-making force. |
| 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 396 These are sawcy Truths to obtrude on the Power-mongers, *Wealth-mongers, and Pleasure-mongers of the World. a 1665 J. Goodwin Being filled with the Spirit xvii. (1670) 476 If the Question should be put to all rich Wealth-mongers and Honour-mongers. |
| 1896 Daily Tel. 3 Feb. 4/7 The vast *wealth-producing industries of the Rand. |
| 1891 Meredith Invect. Achilles Poet. Wks. (1912) 554 Thou mayest gather here plunder and *wealth⁓store. |
| 1963 Daily Tel. 22 Feb. 26/6 (heading) *Wealth tax statement next week. 1974 Guardian 23 Mar. 12/1 The Labour Party..suggested an annual wealth tax starting at 1 per cent on {pstlg}50,000, and running up to 5 per cent on {pstlg}400,000 and more. 1976 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Mar. 200/1 Until the final form of wealth tax has been decided it is not possible to decide whether it will be fiscally neutral as regards private woodlands. |
| 1850 Grote Greece ii. lxvii. VIII. 540 Plato was not the man to preach king-worship, or *wealth-worship, as social or political remedies. 1877 Gladstone Glean. (1879) I. 168 The wealth-worship which marks and deforms our time. |
| 1917 19th Cent. Dec. 1237 Its [sc. the ocean's] *wealth-yield appears to be beyond words bounteous. |
| 1888 Clodd Creation iv. 30 Rich as are igneous rocks in *wealth-yielding mineral veins and ores, they are..destitute of fossils. |
______________________________
▸
wealth effect n. orig. and chiefly
U.S. the tendency of a person to spend increasing amounts of money as a result of his or her increase in personal wealth or perception that the economy at large is thriving.
| 1948A. P. Lerner in L. A. Metzler et al. Income, Employment & Public Policy iii. ii. 269 As the amount of money in the hands of the public increases, the public feels itself wealthier... This is part of the ‘*wealth effect’. It diminishes the tendency to save, and to work for the sake of saving, and increases demand while it diminishes supply. 1971 N.Y. Times 23 June 63/4 The monetarists were highly skeptical of the wealth effect. Prof. George D. Green..produced a paper to show that the stock market boom and crash of 1929 had had slight effects upon the economy. 2000 G. Soros Open Society iii. 71 The wealth effect of the stock market bubble favored a strong Christmas. |