▪ I. weal, n.1
(wiːl)
Forms: 1–2 wela; 1 weola (3 weolla), 3–4 weole (2 wole); 1 weala (3 wale); 2–6 wele (3–4 wel, well), 5–6 weel(e (5 weell), 5 weyle; Sc. 5–6 weile (6 weille), 5–7 weill, weil (6 veill, veil), 6 weyll, 8 weel; 6–7 weale, 6– weal.
[OE. wela (weola, weala) wk. masc. = OS. welo, OHG. wolo:—OTeut. *welon-, f. root *wel-: see well adv.
The 14th cent. northern form wel (well) is merely a variant spelling, and the length of the vowel is proved by rhymes; but from the 15th cent. in midland and southern texts a real confusion between wēle and wĕl appears, owing to the currency of double forms of the adverb ‘well’. In consequence of this the noun is sometimes written wel, well, or welle, and in this form is latterly identified in pronunciation with the adv. (For examples see well n.2) On the other hand the adv. in the form wele or weele has influenced the meaning of the noun in sense 4 below, and probably contributed to its use in sense 3 (and in weal-public) as an equivalent of L. bonum and F. bien.]
† 1. Wealth, riches, possessions. Obs. (as distinct from 2).
Often world-weal, world's weal, worldly weal.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xi. §1 Ac for bearnleste eallne þone welan þe hi ᵹegaderiᵹað hi lætað fræmdum to brucanne. 971 Blickl. Hom. 197 Se man ahte mycelne welan. c 1205 Lay. 7732 For eowre muchele wurðscipe weole ȝe scullen habben. a 1225 Ancr. R. 196 Ant te world bit mon ȝiscen worldes weole, & wunne, & wurschipe. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 120 Wyþ-vte wysdome is weole wel vnwurþ. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 32 For what richesse, rink, vs miȝht þou bireue, Whan no wordliche wele is wiþ us founde? c 1400 26 Pol. Poems viii. 68 Beter is litel ryȝtwys wonne..Þan..Wiþouten desert take pore mennys wele. 1531 Elyot Governor i. i, In our olde vulgare, profite is called weale. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. iii. ii. 1057 (Collins) Behold with ruthfull eyes Thy parents robd of all their worldly weale By subtle meanes of vsurie and guile. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. i. i. 119 He paid the usual penalty of such indifference to worldly weal, by seeing himself eventually stripped of his lordly possessions. |
† b. pl. Obs.
| c 900 Bæda's Hist. iv. xi. (1890) 294 Ond he sundorliif & munucliif wæs forebeorende allum þam weolum & arum þæs eorðlecan riices. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke viii. 14 Þæt synd þa ðe..of welum [Vulg. divitiis] & of lustum þyses lifes synd forþrysmode. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 111 Ðu gederast mare and mare..and þine welan forrotiað beforan þine ehȝan. a 1300 Cursor M. 4503 Man þat weltres in his welis And, thoru his welth, na fautes felis. 1543 Recorde Gr. Artes B iij b, How many waies also Arithmetike is conducible for al priuat weales of Lordes and all possessioners. 1628 Pemble Salomon's Recant. 24 Dislike and Hatred of all his magnificent workes, weales, possessions and pleasures. |
† c. Pomp, splendour, rich array. Obs.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 264/123 For no Monuk ne scholde gon out þar-of, þe worldes weole to seo. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 37 This duc..Whan he was come almoost vn to the toun In al his wele and in his mooste pride. |
† d. Stores, supplies. Obs.
| 13.. Coer de L. 4786 Agaynes hem comen her naveye, Cogges, and dromoundes, many galeye,..That were chargyd with al weel, With armour and with other vytayle. c 1400 Emare 824 He lette ordeyne shypus fele, And fylled hem fulle of wordes wele, Hys men mery wyth to make. |
2. Welfare, well-being, happiness, prosperity.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 431 Siððan bið him se wela onwended & wyrð him wite ᵹeᵹearwod. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, Eala hu leas & hu unwrest is þysses middaneardes wela. c 1205 Lay. 10394 He heom wolden mucle wele & wurðscipe itæchen. a 1225 Ancr. R. 192 Þeo ilke uondunges..wendeð efterward to weole and to eche blisse. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 809 Abram let loth in welðe and wale. 13.. Guy Warw. 822 Wele is him þat it winne may. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2243 For now is Palamon in alle wele. c 1477 Caxton Jason 50 b, I am right ioyous of thy wele and worship. 1491 Act 7 Hen. VII c. 12 Preamble, Dedis of charite..to be doon for him..for the wele of his soule. 1549 Coverdale etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. vi. 15 Ye nowe are become Christes seruauntes, whose seruice is all weale and blisse. 1612 Bacon Ess., Goodness (Arb.) 198, I take goodnesse in this sence, the affecting of the Weale of men, which is that the Græcians call Philanthropia. 1642 D. Rogers Naaman 165 To read Masse or Dirigies for the weale of his soule after his decease. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxvii. And monks should sing, and bells should toll, All for the weal of Michael's soul. 1822 Good Study Med. (1829) I. 396 The flux..becomes a conditional of the corporeal weal. 1859 Tennyson Enid 799, I doubted whether daughter's tenderness, Or easy nature, might not let itself Be moulded by your wishes for her weal. |
b. freq. in contrast with woe († wowe).
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 466 Þæt þær yldo bearn moste onceosan godes & yfeles, gumena æᵹhwilc welan & wawan. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 29 Ne on wele ne on wauȝhe. a 1250 Prov. ælfred 142 For God may yeue, þenne he wule, god after vuele, weole after wowe. a 1300 Cursor M. 4054 His waa, his well, yee sal here bath. c 1300 Havelok 2777 For wel ne for wo. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 202–4. c 1400 Pride of Life 376 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays 100 Þer is dred & sorow & wo wytoutin wel. 1470–85 Malory Arthur i. xii. 51 How they sware that for wele nor woo they shold not leue other. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 43 But welcome now my Lord, in wele or woe. 1667 Milton P.L. viii. 638 Thine and of all thy Sons The weal or woe in thee is plac't. 1771 Beattie Minstr. i. xxix, All human weal and wo learn thou to make thine own. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iv. v, ‘Come weal, come woe, by Bruce's side,’ Replied the Chief, ‘will Ronald bide.’ 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cxxix. 2 Dear friend, far off, my lost desire, So far, so near in woe and weal. 1863 M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd xv, Impulsive and impetuous, she had always taken her own course, whether for weal or woe. 1897 Queen Victoria in Daily News 17 July 5/4 In weal and woe I have ever had the true sympathy of all my people. |
† c. pl. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 154 & euer me þoȝt I schulde not wonde For wo, þer welez so wynne wore. 1483 Caxton Golden Leg. 260/2 Thou arte begynnynge myddell and ende of alle weles and goodes. c 1500 Three Kings' Sons 24 He [God] hath gyuen me more of weles than y haue or can deserue. 1544 Late Exped. Scot. (1798) 13 To proue whether the Scottes had yet learned, by theyr importable losses lately chaunced to them, to tendyr theyr own weales, by true and reasonable vnytynge & adioynyng them selues to the Kynges Maiesties louyng liege people. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 156 Nor regardyng..their awne weales and states, neyther the weales of their householdes, as their wives, children, or friendes. |
† d. applied to a person, as a source of felicity, or an object of delight. Obs.
| a 1225 St. Marher. 8 Þu art iweddedes weole ant widewene warant. a 1240 Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 183 Ihesu mi weole, mi wunne. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 363 Þu art my welth & wele. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 288 O thou my wele, o thou my wo. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xii. 290 He is our lord and our wele, and therfore I praye you, fayr bredern, that ye wyll obeye hym. 1490 ― Eneydos vi. 28 Sith that he hath..taken awaye hym whiche was alle my wele. |
3. contextually. The welfare of a country or community; the general good. Often with defining word, as common, general, public, universal. See also common weal 1, public a. 2 a, weal-public 1. Now arch.
† Phr. the weal of peace = OF. le bien de paix.
| 1444 Rolls of Parlt. V. 121/1 Where afore this tyme for the wele of Peas, Tranquillite and gode Governance, bitwene the Baillifs and Cominalte of the Toun of Shroesbury, divers composicions were made bitwene hem. 1483 Eng. Gilds 335 To..the wele of the kyng our soueraygn lordez people. 1531 Elyot Governor Proheme, Your graces moste beneuolent inclination towarde the vniuersall weale of your subiectes. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 146 It was agreed by the king..for his more suretie, and for the weale of the lande. 1643 in Clarendon Hist. Reb. vii. §342 As enemies to the weal of both kingdoms. 1697 De la Pryme Diary 16 Sept. (Surtees) 150 Who vallues the weal politic above the ecclesiastic. 1726–30 Thomson Winter 35 For thy country's weal. 1820 Byron Mar. Fal. iv. i, This needful violence is for thy safety, No less than for the general weal. 1826 Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. I. 132 He appears in them as a watchful guardian of the domestic weal. 1838 Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. xxiii. III. 430 This enterprise, undertaken for the weal of the church. 1870 Bryant Iliad ix. 122 Thou..shouldst follow willingly Another's judgment when it best promotes The general weal. |
b. Hence, a state, community; = common weal 2. ? Obs.
| 1513 Douglas æneis xi. vii. 92 Avys heiron amangis ȝou for the best, And help to bring our feble weill to rest. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 304 For the universall Christen weale [L. pro republica Christiana]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 66 The speciall Watch-men of our English Weale. 1597 Bp. Hall Sat. ii. iii. 15 Wo to the weale where many lawiers bee. 1603 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 102 We ought not to meruaile, if this weale haue florished now these 250. yeares in great reputation of armes and valor. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 27 Meet we the Med'cine of the sickly Weale. 1608 Heywood Rape of Lucrece B 4 b, Tarquins abilitie will in the weale, Beget a weake vnable impotence. 1727 Gay Fables I. xvii. 27 (Shepherd's Dog & Wolf) If mindful of the bleating weal, Thy bosom burn with real zeal. 1763 Churchill Epist. Hogarth 42 To enlarge the mind, Purge the sick weal, and humanize mankind. |
† 4. a. Goodness, virtuous behaviour. Obs.
| c 1500 Three Kings' Sons 33 She wist wele that without grete nurture..he might not knowe the weelis and honoures that he coude. Ibid. 36 In his company, wheryn men may lerne bothe wele and honour. c 1500 Melusine 11 Yf that ye think theron but wele & honour. |
† b. Good or honourable report. Obs.
| c 1500 Three Kings's Sons 133 For the grete weeles that euery man rehersed of you. |
▪ II. weal, n.2
(wiːl)
[A mod. variant of wale n.1, by confusion with wheal n.1, a pustule: see wheal n.2]
The mark or ridge raised on the flesh by the blow of a rod, lash, etc.; = wale n.1 2, wheal n.2
| 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. etc. II. 68 Who, soon as mounted, with his switching weals, Puts Dob's best swiftness in his heavy heels. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy iv, From shoulder to flank, sir, I am one mass of welts and weals. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. vi. (1852) 111 He told us that his legs were marked by great weals, where the thong had wound round as if he had been flogged with a whip. 1872 Tennyson Last Tourn. 58 His visage ribb'd From ear to ear with dogwhip-weals. 1900 Conan Doyle Green Flag etc. 185 Black and bitter were the thoughts of Frenchmen when they saw this weal of dishonour slashed across the fair face of their country. |
▪ III. † weal, v.1
Var. wheal v.1 Obs.
| 1664 in Pepys Diary 31 Dec. (1879) III. 96 [Charm against a thorn] Jesus..Was pricked both with nail and thorn; It neither wealed, nor belled, rankled, nor boned. |
▪ IV. weal, v.2
(wiːl)
[var. of wale v.2, by confusion with wheal v.1]
trans. To mark (the flesh) with weals; = wale v.2 1.
| 1722 De Foe Col. Jack i, I saw him afterwards, with his back all wealed with the lashes. 1820 Clare Rural Life (ed. 3) 100 The lash that weal'd poor Dobbin's hide. 1825 Scott Talism. xviii, His bare arm..wealed with the blows of the discipline. 1886 Fenn Master Cerem. xxx, Were you ever beaten—cut—and wealed with your own whip? |
b. absol.
| 1908 Times 17 Jan. 4/6 The school authorities allowed only four strokes, two on each hand, as a maximum punishment, and they must not weal. 1922 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 355 The knotted ropes that weal and flay. |
Hence wealed ppl. a., ˈwealing vbl. n.
| 1841 Tupper Twins xvii. (1844) 131 His wealed body, full of pains and aches and bruises. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 7/2 The governess and upper housemaid examined the child afterwards and found severe wealing of the back and stomach, besides bruises. |
▪ V. weal
var. weel; obs. Sc. f. well a., adv.