welfare
/ˈwɛlˌfɛɚ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.43 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Shortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
American usage; Informal; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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."
- "welfaring the poor"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: welefare, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɛlˌfɛɚ/
- British English: /ˈwɛlˌfɛə/
Usage
- Uncountable
- American usage
- Informal
- Transitive verb