Etymograph

English

wealth

Wealth comes from Middle English welth, from Old English *welþ, from Proto-West Germanic *waliþu, from *walō ‘well-being’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walô1‘wealth, well-being’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walō1‘wealth, well-being’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waliþu1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*welþ1reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welth1‘happiness’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598wealth1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English wealth
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I once did lend my body for his wealth,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*walôWiktionary, English wealth‘wealth, well-being’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*walōWiktionary, English wealth‘wealth, well-being’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*waliþuWiktionary, English wealthreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*welþWiktionary, English wealthreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500welthWiktionary, English wealth‘happiness’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598wealthWiktionary, English wealth. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “I once did lend my body for his wealth,…”

The story

Related also to German Wohl (‘welfare, well-being, weal’), Danish vel (‘weal, welfare’), Swedish väl (‘well-being, weal’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun Riches; a great amount of valuable assets or material possessions.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wealth”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *walô / wealth