well-ˈfaring, ppl. a. Obs. exc. arch.
† 1. Of handsome or well-favoured appearance; good-looking; also, robust, healthy. Obs.
| c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 452 Than founde I sytte euen vpright A wonder welfaryng knyght. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 240 Sche..thoghte hou nevere creature Was so wel farende as was he. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems ii. 51 Welfaryng men of armes. 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. i. 184 Hym thought he sawe neuer..soo wel farynge a man. a 1513 Fabyan Chron. vi. clvi. (1811) 144 He was fayre and welfarynge of body, and sterne of looke and of face. 1536 Pilgr. Tale 170 in Thynne's Animadv. 82 Ther I spyed walkyng a comely pryst, and a welfaryng. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 47/3 The entralles of a sownde and welfaring man. |
† 2. Couched in proper or appropriate terms. Obs.
| a 1400 Isumbras 333 A chartir was mad fulle wele farande,..That thofe he never come in his lande, That scho solde qwene bee. |
3. arch. Doing well, prosperous.
The spelling indicates association with welfare.
| 1888 Doughty Arabia Deserta II. 116 If only his Lord would leave him here other two or three years!—then would he be fully at his ease, and a welfaring person. |