Meanings
plural welfares
- uncountableusuallyHealth, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
1 more example
Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC - USinformaluncountableusuallyShortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
Oliveira seems to suggest that the Jews of Kiryas Joel are somehow gaming the welfare system to fund their lifestyles, while simultaneously acknowledging the high poverty rates in the town that qualify residents for programs like Medicaid.
2026 February 25, Arno Rosenfeld, “After Minneapolis, a YouTuber comes for Jewish ‘welfare queens’”, in The Forward, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2026Synonyms: welfare assistance, income support, public assistance, social security
present singular third person welfares · participle present welfaring · participle past welfared · past welfared
- transitiveTo provide with welfare or aid.
welfaring the poor
Synonyms & antonyms
nounShortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
More synonyms by meaning
noungovernmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need
nouna contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishwelefare
- Englishwelfare
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.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic رَفَاهَة, خَيْر
- رَفَاهَة (rafāha)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- خَيْر (ḵayr)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Bulgarian благополу́чие, благоде́нствие
- благополу́чие (blagopolúčie)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- благоде́нствие (blagodénstvie)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- социа́лна по́мощ (sociálna pómošt)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Catalan benestar, benestar
- benestarhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- benestaraid, provided by a government, etc.
Chinese Mandarin 福利, 幸福
- 福利 (fúlì)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 幸福 (xìngfú)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 康樂 /康乐 (kānglè)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 福利 (fúlì)aid, provided by a government, etc.
- 社會福利 /社会福利 (shèhuì fúlì)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Czech blaho, blahobyt
- blahohealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- blahobythealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Danish lykke, velfærd
- lykkehealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- velfærdhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- forsorgaid, provided by a government, etc.
Dutch welzijn
- welzijnhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Esperanto bonstato, bonfarto
- bonstatohealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- bonfartohealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Finnish hyvinvointi, sosiaaliavustus
- hyvinvointihealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- sosiaaliavustusaid, provided by a government, etc.
- sosiaalitukiaid, provided by a government, etc.
French bien-être m|, aide sociale
- bien-être m|health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- aide socialeaid, provided by a government, etc.
German Wohlergehen, Wohlfahrt
- Wohlergehenhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- Wohlfahrthealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- Sozialhilfeaid, provided by a government, etc.
- Wohlfahrtaid, provided by a government, etc.
Greek ευημερία, πρόνοια
- ευημερία (evimería)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- πρόνοια (prónoia)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Hebrew רְוָחָה
- רְוָחָה (r'vaẖá)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hindi कल्याण, कौशल
- कल्याण (kalyāṇ)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- कौशल (kauśal)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- ख़ैर (xair)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hungarian jólét, boldogulás
- jóléthealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- boldoguláshealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- segélyaid, provided by a government, etc.
- juttatásaid, provided by a government, etc.
- támogatásaid, provided by a government, etc.
Indonesian kesejahteraan
- kesejahteraanhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Japanese 幸せ, 幸福
- 幸せ (shiawase)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 幸福 (kōfuku)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 福祉 (fukushi)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 福祉 (fukushi)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Korean 행복, 복지
- 행복 (haengbok)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 복지 (bokji)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- 복지 (bokji)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Latvian labklājība
- labklājībahealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Malay کباجيقن
- کباجيقن (kebajikan)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Māori tokoora, tokoora
- tokoorahealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- tokooraaid, provided by a government, etc.
Norwegian Bokmål velferd
- velferdhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Persian رفاه
- رفاه (refâh)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Polish dobrobyt, socjal
- dobrobythealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- socjalaid, provided by a government, etc.
- zasiłekaid, provided by a government, etc.
Portuguese bem-estar, segurança social
- bem-estarhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- segurança socialaid, provided by a government, etc.
Russian благосостоя́ние, благополу́чие
- благосостоя́ние (blagosostojánije)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- благополу́чие (blagopolúčije)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- сча́стье (sčástʹje)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- социа́льная по́мощь (sociálʹnaja pómoščʹ)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Slovak blaho, blahobyt
- blahohealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- blahobythealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- sociálna pomocaid, provided by a government, etc.
Spanish bienestar, seguridad social
- bienestarhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- seguridad socialaid, provided by a government, etc.
Swedish välfärd
- välfärdhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Tagalog kagalingan
- kagalinganhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Thai สวัสดิภาพ, สวัสดิการ
- สวัสดิภาพ (sà-wàt-dì-pâap)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- สวัสดิการ (sà-wàt-dì-gaan)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Turkish refah, gönenç
- refahhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- gönençhealth, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- yardımaid, provided by a government, etc.
- sosyal yardımaid, provided by a government, etc.
Ukrainian благополу́ччя, добро́бут
- благополу́ччя (blahopolúččja)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- добро́бут (dobróbut)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- благоде́нство (blahodénstvo)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
- ща́стя (ščástja)health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Urdu خیریت
- خیریت (xairiyat)aid, provided by a government, etc.
Vietnamese phúc lợi
- phúc lợiaid, provided by a government, etc.
Cite this entry
welfare. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welfare
“welfare.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welfare. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “welfare,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/welfare.
Source: welfare on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.