wealth

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wel-“good, best”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*walô“well-being, prosperity”
3. Old English · inherited fromwela“wealth, prosperity”
4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*waliþu“wealth”
5. Old English · inherited from*welþ
6. Middle English · inherited fromwelth
7. English todaywealth

Inherited from Middle English welth, welthe (“happiness, prosperity”), from Old English *welþ, *welþu, from Proto-West Germanic *waliþu (“wealth”). Alternatively, possibly an alteration (due to similar words in -th: compare helth (“health”), derth (“dearth”)) of wele (“wealth, well-being, weal”), from Old English wela (“wealth, prosperity”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, prosperity”), from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“good, best”); equivalent to weal + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with West Frisian wielde (“wealth”), Dutch weelde (“wealth”), Low German Weelde (“wealth”), Old High German welida, welitha (“wealth”). Related also to German Wohl (“welfare, well-being, weal”), Danish vel (“weal, welfare”), Swedish väl (“well-being, weal”). More at weal, well.

Words from the same roots