weal

noun

1. (obsolete, uncountable)Wealth, riches.
2. (literary, uncountable)Welfare, prosperity.

   “Therefore for Gods loue, and as we loue the weale of our Soules and Bodies, let us ſo behaue our ſelues, as we may be at peace with God, and may finde grace in the Eyes of this People.”

   “For whom all this was made, all this will ſoon / Follow, as to him linkt in weal or woe, [...]”

   “"Travel shall I and woo; Plight me shall I a flower; Try shall I my sword so good, To my weal or my woe in the stour."”

   “It seemed so plain that if the workman had his master’s profit at heart, and the master were as anxious for the weal of his men, the interests of the two would be one.”

3. (broadly, uncountable)Boon, benefit.

   “And indeed I blamed myself and sore repented me of having taken compassion on him and continued in this condition, suffering fatigue not to be described, till I said to myself, "I wrought him a weal and he requited me with my ill; by Allah, never more will I do any man a service so long as I live!"”

4. (uncountable)Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).

   “Yet never was there a time when it more concerned the public weal, that the character of the parliament should stand high.”

   “The austerity of my tone seemed to touch a nerve and kindle the fire that always slept in this vermilion-headed menace to the common weal [...]”

   “Louis could aim to restyle himself the first among citizens, viewing virtuous attachment to the public weal as his most important kingly duty.”

5. A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.

   “[A]lthough a few [slaves] live comfortably at Paramaribo, the greateſt number are wretched, particularly thoſe governed by a lady, who have many weals to ſhow, but not the ſmallest indulgence to boaſt of.”

   “He turned as I struck him and fired full into my face, and the bullet left a weal across my cheek which will mark me to my dying day.”

   “He had been slashed sixteen times by mighty boars, and his legs had white weals of shiny flesh that stretched right up to his ribs.”

   “And I saw the green island in the immense sea, the borders of the sea curling with a lining of light, like a vast piece of rice paper, its edges alive with weals of red embers, ready to burst into flame.”

verb

1. To mark with stripes; to wale.