English
welfare
Welfare comes from Middle English welefare, probably from the Old English phrase wel faran ‘to fare well, prosper’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wel faran‘to fare well, prosper’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welefare
- Englishearliest quotation 1918welfare
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150wel faran‘to fare well, prosper’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welefare
- Englishearliest quotation 1918welfare
Earliest quotation: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a…”
The story
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.
Every English word from Old English wel faran
Today it means
noun Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English wel faran / welfare