welfare

English

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛlˌfɛə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɛlˌfɛɚ/

Noun

welfare (usually uncountable, plural welfares)

1. (uncountable) Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

     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.

2. (uncountable, chiefly US) Various forms of financial aid provided by the government to those who are in need of it (often called welfare assistance in UK English).

   Synonyms: income support, public assistance, social security

Derived terms

• animal welfare
• antiwelfare
• corporate welfare
• corporate welfare bum
• postwelfare
• prewelfare
• social welfare
• welfare bum
• welfare Cadillac
• welfare capitalism
• welfare check
• welfare hotel
• welfare mother
• welfare parasite
• welfare princess
• welfare queen
• welfare rat
• welfare state
• welfare-to-work
• welfare trap
• welfarite

 

Translations

health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity

• Arabic: رَفَاهَة f (rafāha), خَيْر m (ḵayr)
• Belarusian: дабрабы́т m (dabrabýt), шча́сце n (ščáscje) (happiness)
• Bulgarian: благополу́чие (bg) n (blagopolúčie), благоде́нствие (bg) n (blagodénstvie)
• Catalan: benestar (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 福利 (zh) (fúlì), 幸福 (zh) (xìngfú), 康樂／康乐 (zh) (kānglè)

• Czech: blaho (cs) n, blahobyt (cs) m
• Danish: lykke (da) c, velfærd (da) c
• Dutch: welzijn (nl) n
• Esperanto: bonstato, bonfarto
• Finnish: hyvinvointi (fi)
• French: bien-être (fr) m
• Galician: benestar (gl) f
• German: Wohlergehen (de) n, Wohlfahrt (de) f
• Greek: ευημερία (el) f (evimería)
• Hebrew: רְוָחָה (he) f (r'vaẖá)
• Hindi: कल्याण (hi) m (kalyāṇ), कौशल (hi) m (kauśal), ख़ैर f (xair)
• Hungarian: jólét (hu), boldogulás (hu)
• Indonesian: kesejahteraan (id)
• Japanese: 幸せ (ja) (しあわせ, shiawase), 幸福 (ja) (こうふく, kōfuku), 福祉 (ja) (ふく​し, fukushi)
• Korean: 행복(幸福) (ko) (haengbok), 복지(福祉) (ko) (bokji)
• Latvian: labklājība f
• Macedonian: благосостојба f (blagosostojba)
• Malay: کباجيقن (kebajikan)
• Malayalam: ക്ഷേമം (ml) (kṣēmaṁ)
• Maori: tokoora
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: velferd (no) m or f

  Nynorsk: velferd f

• Persian: رفاه (fa) (refâh)
• Plautdietsch: Heil n
• Polish: dobrobyt (pl) m
• Portuguese: bem-estar (pt) m
• Russian: благосостоя́ние (ru) n (blagosostojánije), благополу́чие (ru) n (blagopolúčije), сча́стье (ru) n (sčástʹje) (happiness)
• Slovak: blaho n, blahobyt m
• Slovene: blaginja f
• Spanish: bienestar (es) m
• Swedish: välfärd (sv)
• Tagalog: kagalingan (tl)
• Telugu: సంక్షేమము (te) (saṅkṣēmamu)
• Thai: สวัสดิภาพ (th) (sà-wàt-dì-pâap)
• Turkish: refah (tr), gönenç (tr)
• Ukrainian: благополу́ччя (uk) n (blahopolúččja), добро́бут m (dobróbut), благоде́нство (uk) n (blahodénstvo), ща́стя (uk) n (ščástja) (happiness)

aid, provided by a government, etc.

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: benestar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 福利 (zh) (fúlì), 社會福利／社会福利 (shèhuì fúlì)

• Danish: forsorg c
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: sosiaaliavustus, sosiaalituki
• French: aide sociale (fr) f
• Galician: beneficencia f, seguridade social (gl) f
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Sozialhilfe (de) f, Wohlfahrt (de) f
• Greek: πρόνοια (el) f (prónoia)
• Hindi: ख़ैरियत f (xairiyat)
• Hungarian: segély (hu), juttatás (hu), támogatás (hu)
• Japanese: 福祉 (ja) (ふくし, fukushi)
• Khmer: ជំនួយ​សុខុមាលភាព (cumnuəy-sokhomiəlphiəp)
• Korean: 복지(福祉) (ko) (bokji)
• Macedonian: соција́лна помош f (socijálna pomoš)
• Maori: tokoora
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: socjal (pl) m, zasiłek (pl) m
• Portuguese: segurança social f
• Russian: социа́льная по́мощь f (sociálʹnaja pómoščʹ)
• Slovak: sociálna pomoc f
• Spanish: seguridad social
• Thai: สวัสดิการ (th) (sà-wàt-dì-gaan)
• Turkish: yardım (tr), sosyal yardım (tr)
• Urdu: خیریت f (xairiyat)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

Verb

welfare (third-person singular simple present welfares, present participle welfaring, simple past and past participle welfared)

1. (transitive) To provide with welfare or aid.

   welfaring the poor

See also

• evilfare
• hellfare
• illfare
• woefare
• wofare
• workfare

Further reading

• “welfare”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• "welfare" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 332.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English welfare.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛlˌfɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Noun

welfare m (invariable)

1. welfare state

Synonyms

stato sociale, benessere