weleful

Middle English

Alternative forms

• welefull, welful, welfull, wilful
• weoleful (Early Middle English)

Etymology

From wele (“wealth”) +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈwɛːl(ə)ful/

Adjective

weleful

1. Blessed, well-off, lucky; having prosperity or happiness.
2. Bestowing prosperity or happiness; benevolent, kind.
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Man of Law's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 451-455:

     [...] ‘O clere, o welful auter, holy croys,
     Reed of the lambes blood full of pitee,
     That wesh the world fro the olde iniquitee,
     Me fro the feend, and fro his clawes kepe,
     That day that I shal drenchen in the depe.’

     [...] ‘O clear, O blessed altar, holy cross,
     Red with the blood of the Lamb full of pity,
     That washed the world from the old iniquity,
     Keep me from the fiend and from his claws,
     That day that I shall drown in the deep.’

3. (rare) Indicative of or signifying prosperity.

Derived terms

• welefulnesse

Descendants

• English: wealful (obsolete)

References

• “wēleful, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.