| 释义 |
▪ I. weal, n.1|wiːl|
Forms: 1–2 wela; 1 weola (3 weolla), 3–4 weole (2 wole); 1 weala (3 wale); 2–6 wele (3–4 wel, well), 5–6 weel(e (5 weell), 5 weyle; Sc. 5–6 weile (6 weille), 5–7 weill, weil (6 veill, veil), 6 weyll, 8 weel; 6–7 weale, 6– weal.
[OE. wela (weola, weala) wk. masc. = OS. welo, OHG. wolo:—OTeut. *welon-, f. root *wel-: see well adv.
The 14th cent. northern form wel (well) is merely a variant spelling, and the length of the vowel is proved by rhymes; but from the 15th cent. in midland and southern texts a real confusion between wēle and wĕl appears, owing to the currency of double forms of the adverb ‘well’. In consequence of this the noun is sometimes written wel, well, or welle, and in this form is latterly identified in pronunciation with the adv. (For examples see well n.2) On the other hand the adv. in the form wele or weele has influenced the meaning of the noun in sense 4 below, and probably contributed to its use in sense 3 (and in weal-public) as an equivalent of L. bonum and F. bien.]
†1. Wealth, riches, possessions. Obs. (as distinct from 2).
Often world-weal, world's weal, worldly weal.
c888ælfred Boeth. xi. §1 Ac for bearnleste eallne þone welan þe hi ᵹegaderiᵹað hi lætað fræmdum to brucanne. 971Blickl. Hom. 197 Se man ahte mycelne welan. c1205Lay. 7732 For eowre muchele wurðscipe weole ȝe scullen habben. a1225Ancr. R. 196 Ant te world bit mon ȝiscen worldes weole, & wunne, & wurschipe. a1250Prov. ælfred 120 Wyþ-vte wysdome is weole wel vnwurþ. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 32 For what richesse, rink, vs miȝht þou bireue, Whan no wordliche wele is wiþ us founde? c140026 Pol. Poems viii. 68 Beter is litel ryȝtwys wonne..Þan..Wiþouten desert take pore mennys wele. 1531Elyot Governor i. i, In our olde vulgare, profite is called weale. 1594Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. iii. ii. 1057 (Collins) Behold with ruthfull eyes Thy parents robd of all their worldly weale By subtle meanes of vsurie and guile. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. i. i. 119 He paid the usual penalty of such indifference to worldly weal, by seeing himself eventually stripped of his lordly possessions.
†b. pl. Obs.
c900Bæda's Hist. iv. xi. (1890) 294 Ond he sundorliif & munucliif wæs forebeorende allum þam weolum & arum þæs eorðlecan riices. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke viii. 14 Þæt synd þa ðe..of welum [Vulg. divitiis] & of lustum þyses lifes synd forþrysmode. c1175Lamb. Hom. 111 Ðu gederast mare and mare..and þine welan forrotiað beforan þine ehȝan. a1300Cursor M. 4503 Man þat weltres in his welis And, thoru his welth, na fautes felis. 1543Recorde Gr. Artes B iij b, How many waies also Arithmetike is conducible for al priuat weales of Lordes and all possessioners. 1628Pemble Salomon's Recant. 24 Dislike and Hatred of all his magnificent workes, weales, possessions and pleasures.
†c. Pomp, splendour, rich array. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 264/123 For no Monuk ne scholde gon out þar-of, þe worldes weole to seo. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 37 This duc..Whan he was come almoost vn to the toun In al his wele and in his mooste pride.
†d. Stores, supplies. Obs.
13..Coer de L. 4786 Agaynes hem comen her naveye, Cogges, and dromoundes, many galeye,..That were chargyd with al weel, With armour and with other vytayle. c1400Emare 824 He lette ordeyne shypus fele, And fylled hem fulle of wordes wele, Hys men mery wyth to make.
2. Welfare, well-being, happiness, prosperity.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 431 Siððan bið him se wela onwended & wyrð him wite ᵹeᵹearwod. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, Eala hu leas & hu unwrest is þysses middaneardes wela. c1205Lay. 10394 He heom wolden mucle wele & wurðscipe itæchen. a1225Ancr. R. 192 Þeo ilke uondunges..wendeð efterward to weole and to eche blisse. c1250Gen. & Ex. 809 Abram let loth in welðe and wale. 13..Guy Warw. 822 Wele is him þat it winne may. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2243 For now is Palamon in alle wele. c1477Caxton Jason 50 b, I am right ioyous of thy wele and worship. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII c. 12 Preamble, Dedis of charite..to be doon for him..for the wele of his soule. 1549Coverdale etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. vi. 15 Ye nowe are become Christes seruauntes, whose seruice is all weale and blisse. 1612Bacon Ess., Goodness (Arb.) 198, I take goodnesse in this sence, the affecting of the Weale of men, which is that the Græcians call Philanthropia. 1642D. Rogers Naaman 165 To read Masse or Dirigies for the weale of his soule after his decease. 1805Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxvii. And monks should sing, and bells should toll, All for the weal of Michael's soul. 1822Good Study Med. (1829) I. 396 The flux..becomes a conditional of the corporeal weal. 1859Tennyson Enid 799, I doubted whether daughter's tenderness, Or easy nature, might not let itself Be moulded by your wishes for her weal.
b. freq. in contrast with woe († wowe).
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 466 Þæt þær yldo bearn moste onceosan godes & yfeles, gumena æᵹhwilc welan & wawan. c1200Vices & Virtues 29 Ne on wele ne on wauȝhe. a1250Prov. ælfred 142 For God may yeue, þenne he wule, god after vuele, weole after wowe. a1300Cursor M. 4054 His waa, his well, yee sal here bath. c1300Havelok 2777 For wel ne for wo. 1393Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 202–4. c 1400 Pride of Life 376 in Non-Cycle Myst. Plays 100 Þer is dred & sorow & wo wytoutin wel. 1470–85Malory Arthur i. xii. 51 How they sware that for wele nor woo they shold not leue other. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. viii. 43 But welcome now my Lord, in wele or woe. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 638 Thine and of all thy Sons The weal or woe in thee is plac't. 1771Beattie Minstr. i. xxix, All human weal and wo learn thou to make thine own. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles iv. v, ‘Come weal, come woe, by Bruce's side,’ Replied the Chief, ‘will Ronald bide.’ 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxxix. 2 Dear friend, far off, my lost desire, So far, so near in woe and weal. 1863M. E. Braddon Aurora Floyd xv, Impulsive and impetuous, she had always taken her own course, whether for weal or woe. 1897Queen Victoria in Daily News 17 July 5/4 In weal and woe I have ever had the true sympathy of all my people.
†c. pl. Obs.
13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 154 & euer me þoȝt I schulde not wonde For wo, þer welez so wynne wore. 1483Caxton Golden Leg. 260/2 Thou arte begynnynge myddell and ende of alle weles and goodes. c1500Three Kings' Sons 24 He [God] hath gyuen me more of weles than y haue or can deserue. 1544Late Exped. Scot. (1798) 13 To proue whether the Scottes had yet learned, by theyr importable losses lately chaunced to them, to tendyr theyr own weales, by true and reasonable vnytynge & adioynyng them selues to the Kynges Maiesties louyng liege people. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 156 Nor regardyng..their awne weales and states, neyther the weales of their householdes, as their wives, children, or friendes.
†d. applied to a person, as a source of felicity, or an object of delight. Obs.
a1225St. Marher. 8 Þu art iweddedes weole ant widewene warant. a1240Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 183 Ihesu mi weole, mi wunne. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxx. (Theodera) 363 Þu art my welth & wele. 1390Gower Conf. I. 288 O thou my wele, o thou my wo. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xii. 290 He is our lord and our wele, and therfore I praye you, fayr bredern, that ye wyll obeye hym. 1490― Eneydos vi. 28 Sith that he hath..taken awaye hym whiche was alle my wele.
3. contextually. The welfare of a country or community; the general good. Often with defining word, as common, general, public, universal. See also common weal 1, public a. 2 a, weal-public 1. Now arch.
† Phr. the weal of peace = OF. le bien de paix.
1444Rolls of Parlt. V. 121/1 Where afore this tyme for the wele of Peas, Tranquillite and gode Governance, bitwene the Baillifs and Cominalte of the Toun of Shroesbury, divers composicions were made bitwene hem. 1483Eng. Gilds 335 To..the wele of the kyng our soueraygn lordez people. 1531Elyot Governor Proheme, Your graces moste beneuolent inclination towarde the vniuersall weale of your subiectes. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 146 It was agreed by the king..for his more suretie, and for the weale of the lande. 1643in Clarendon Hist. Reb. vii. §342 As enemies to the weal of both kingdoms. 1697De la Pryme Diary 16 Sept. (Surtees) 150 Who vallues the weal politic above the ecclesiastic. 1726–30Thomson Winter 35 For thy country's weal. 1820Byron Mar. Fal. iv. i, This needful violence is for thy safety, No less than for the general weal. 1826Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. I. 132 He appears in them as a watchful guardian of the domestic weal. 1838Prescott Ferd. & Is. ii. xxiii. III. 430 This enterprise, undertaken for the weal of the church. 1870Bryant Iliad ix. 122 Thou..shouldst follow willingly Another's judgment when it best promotes The general weal.
b. Hence, a state, community; = common weal 2. ? Obs.
1513Douglas æneis xi. vii. 92 Avys heiron amangis ȝou for the best, And help to bring our feble weill to rest. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 304 For the universall Christen weale [L. pro republica Christiana]. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. i. 66 The speciall Watch-men of our English Weale. 1597Bp. Hall Sat. ii. iii. 15 Wo to the weale where many lawiers bee. 1603R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 102 We ought not to meruaile, if this weale haue florished now these 250. yeares in great reputation of armes and valor. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 27 Meet we the Med'cine of the sickly Weale. 1608Heywood Rape of Lucrece B 4 b, Tarquins abilitie will in the weale, Beget a weake vnable impotence. 1727Gay Fables I. xvii. 27 (Shepherd's Dog & Wolf) If mindful of the bleating weal, Thy bosom burn with real zeal. 1763Churchill Epist. Hogarth 42 To enlarge the mind, Purge the sick weal, and humanize mankind.
†4.
a. Goodness, virtuous behaviour. Obs.
c1500Three Kings' Sons 33 She wist wele that without grete nurture..he might not knowe the weelis and honoures that he coude. Ibid. 36 In his company, wheryn men may lerne bothe wele and honour. c1500Melusine 11 Yf that ye think theron but wele & honour.
†b. Good or honourable report. Obs.
c1500Three Kings's Sons 133 For the grete weeles that euery man rehersed of you.
▪ II. weal, n.2|wiːl|
[A mod. variant of wale n.1, by confusion with wheal n.1, a pustule: see wheal n.2]
The mark or ridge raised on the flesh by the blow of a rod, lash, etc.; = wale n.1 2, wheal n.2
1821Clare Vill. Minstr. etc. II. 68 Who, soon as mounted, with his switching weals, Puts Dob's best swiftness in his heavy heels. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy iv, From shoulder to flank, sir, I am one mass of welts and weals. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. vi. (1852) 111 He told us that his legs were marked by great weals, where the thong had wound round as if he had been flogged with a whip. 1872Tennyson Last Tourn. 58 His visage ribb'd From ear to ear with dogwhip-weals. 1900Conan Doyle Green Flag etc. 185 Black and bitter were the thoughts of Frenchmen when they saw this weal of dishonour slashed across the fair face of their country.
▪ III. † weal, v.1
Var. wheal v.1 Obs.
1664in Pepys Diary 31 Dec. (1879) III. 96 [Charm against a thorn] Jesus..Was pricked both with nail and thorn; It neither wealed, nor belled, rankled, nor boned.
▪ IV. weal, v.2|wiːl|
[var. of wale v.2, by confusion with wheal v.1]
trans. To mark (the flesh) with weals; = wale v.2 1.
1722De Foe Col. Jack i, I saw him afterwards, with his back all wealed with the lashes. 1820Clare Rural Life (ed. 3) 100 The lash that weal'd poor Dobbin's hide. 1825Scott Talism. xviii, His bare arm..wealed with the blows of the discipline. 1886Fenn Master Cerem. xxx, Were you ever beaten—cut—and wealed with your own whip?
b. absol.
1908Times 17 Jan. 4/6 The school authorities allowed only four strokes, two on each hand, as a maximum punishment, and they must not weal. 1922Blackw. Mag. Mar. 355 The knotted ropes that weal and flay.
Hence wealed ppl. a., ˈwealing vbl. n.
1841Tupper Twins xvii. (1844) 131 His wealed body, full of pains and aches and bruises. 1902Westm. Gaz. 20 Nov. 7/2 The governess and upper housemaid examined the child afterwards and found severe wealing of the back and stomach, besides bruises.
▪ V. weal
var. weel; obs. Sc. f. well a., adv. |