What does Welfare mean?

Definitions for Welfare
ˈwɛlˌfɛərwel·fare

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Welfare.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. social welfare, welfare, public assistancenoun

    governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need

    "she lives on welfare"

  2. benefit, welfarenoun

    something that aids or promotes well-being

    "for the benefit of all"

  3. wellbeing, well-being, welfare, upbeat, eudaemonia, eudaimonianoun

    a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous

    "the town was finally on the upbeat after our recent troubles"

Wiktionary

  1. welfarenoun

    health, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect

  2. welfarenoun

    (chiefly U.S.) various forms of financial aid provided by the government to those who are in need of it (abbreviated form of Welfare assistance), social security, income support,

  3. Etymology: wel faran "wellness" (cognate with Old Norse velferð, Swedish välfärd and Dutch welvaart.) Equivalent to.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Welfarenoun

    Happiness; success; prosperity.

    Etymology: well and fare.

    If friends to a government forbear their assistance, they put it in the power of a few desperate men to ruin the welfare of those who are superiour to them in strength and interest. Add.

    Discretion is the perfection of reason: cunning is a kind of instinct that only looks out after our immediate interest and welfare. Joseph Addison, Spectator.

Wikipedia

  1. Welfare

    Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed (e.g. most pension systems), as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone (e.g. most disability benefits). The International Labour Organization defines social security as covering support for those in old age, support for the maintenance of children, medical treatment, parental and sick leave, unemployment and disability benefits, and support for sufferers of occupational injury.More broadly, welfare may also encompass efforts to provide a basic level of well-being through free or subsidized social services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, vocational training, and public housing. In a welfare state, the state assumes responsibility for the health, education, infrastructure and welfare of society, providing a range of social services such as those described.Some historians view systems of codified almsgiving, like the zakat policy of the seventh century (634 CE) Rashidun caliph Umar, as early examples of universal government welfare. The first welfare state was Imperial Germany (1871–1918), where the Bismarck government introduced social security in 1889. In the early 20th century, the United Kingdom introduced social security around 1913, and adopted the welfare state with the National Insurance Act 1946, during the Attlee government (1945–51). In the countries of western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, social welfare is mainly provided by the government out of the national tax revenues, and to a lesser extent by non-government organizations (NGOs), and charities (social and religious). A right to social security and an adequate standard of living is asserted in Articles 22 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

ChatGPT

  1. welfare

    Welfare refers to the well-being of individuals or groups, including their health, happiness, and comfort. It is often considered in terms of physical, mental, and social health. It can also refer to a government program that provides financial or other assistance to individuals or families in need, such as food stamps, housing assistance, or healthcare. In economics, welfare is a concept that entails the good fortune, health, happiness, prosperity, and well-being of a person, group, or the entire society.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Welfarenoun

    well-doing or well-being in any respect; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; exemption from any evil or calamity; prosperity; happiness

  2. Etymology: [Well + fare to go, to proceed, to happen.]

Wikidata

  1. Welfare

    Welfare is the provision of a minimal level of well-being and social support for all citizens, sometimes referred to as public aid. In most developed countries welfare is largely provided by the government, and to a lesser extent, charities, informal social groups, religious groups, and inter-governmental organizations. The welfare state expands on this concept to include services such as universal healthcare and unemployment insurance.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Welfare

    wel′fār, n. state of faring or doing well: freedom from any calamity, &c.: enjoyment of health, &c.: prosperity.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. WELFARE

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Welfare is ranked #85357 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Welfare surname appeared 219 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Welfare.

    51.1% or 112 total occurrences were White.
    45.6% or 100 total occurrences were Black.
    2.2% or 5 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Welfare' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2110

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Welfare' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4177

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Welfare' in Nouns Frequency: #951

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce Welfare?

How to say Welfare in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Welfare in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Welfare in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of Welfare in a Sentence

  1. Leah Bessa:

    We decided to focus on an industry [ food ] that is under a lot of pressure due to animal welfare and environmental concerns, insects aren't sentient beings, and they only grow in the conditions in which they thrive, so the farming conditions cater to their animal welfare needs.

  2. Saudi Ministry of Environment:

    The ministry confirms that this horrendous act is against the teachings of Islam that call for animal welfare, and it is also against the laws of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

  3. Jacob Hornberger:

    There is no difference in principle, ... between the economic philosophy of Nazism, socialism, communism, and fascism and that of the American welfare state and regulated economy.

  4. Josh Archambault:

    There is so much low-hanging fruit to catch in this country when it comes to welfare fraud, and sadly, every day that goes by without reform allows for abuse and steals resources from the truly needy.

  5. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

    Against all the odds we obtained a great victory for the Likud, now we must form a strong and stable government that will ensure Israel's security and welfare.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Welfare#1#4022#10000

Translations for Welfare

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for Welfare »

Translation

Find a translation for the Welfare definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Welfare." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 21 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Welfare>.

Discuss these Welfare definitions with the community:

3 Comments
  • Julie Anne Cipriano
    Julie Anne Cipriano
    i still don't know what wellfare means
    LikeReply8 years ago
  • Julie Anne Cipriano
    Julie Anne Cipriano
    what does wellfare mean i don't have any idea what it means
    LikeReply8 years ago
  • Julie Anne Cipriano
    Julie Anne Cipriano
    wellfare i have no idea what this word means. it's to hard of a word for me to comprehend
    LikeReply8 years ago

Are we missing a good definition for Welfare? Don't keep it to yourself...

Image or illustration of

Welfare

Credit »

Free, no signup required:

Add to Chrome

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Free, no signup required:

Add to Firefox

Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

Quiz

Are you a words master?

»
showing intellectual penetration or emotional depth
A urban
B profound
C noninvasive
D opaque

Nearby & related entries:

Alternative searches for Welfare: