wealth
/wɛlθ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.51 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Money talks, but true wealth whispers."
- "The existence of many nations and national characters is part of the cultural wealth of mankind, and there is no reason to seek to diminish their number."
- "She brings a wealth of knowledge to the project."
- "There is a wealth of carved wood inside: from pulpit to pews, screens to lectern, and a large medieval chest made from a hollowed-out log of bog-oak with a massive lid."
- "Beyond its aim to bring patients the most effective treatments faster, the service is expected to generate a wealth of data on the interplay between DNA, health and lifestyles, which will become a powerful tool for research into cancer and other diseases."
- "I once did lend my body for his wealth, / Which, but for him that had your husband's ring, / Had quite miscarried: […]"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
wealths (plural)
wealthe (alternative, obsolete)
welth (alternative, obsolete)
welthe (alternative, obsolete)