| 释义 |
wealth|wɛlθ|
Forms: 3 welðe, welðhe, 3–5 welþe, (4 weolthe, -þe), 3–7 welth, (3 weltht, 5 welt), 4–5 welþ, 4–6 Sc. velth, 6 Sc. veltht, 4–6 welthe, (6 wellthe), 6 wealthe, (7 waelth), 5– wealth.
[ME. welþe, f. well adv. or weal n.1 + -th1, on the analogy of health. Parallel formations are MDu. weelde, welde (mod.Du. weelde), MLG. welede (mod.LG. welde), OHG. welida.]
†1. The condition of being happy and prosperous; well-being. Obs. (exc. arch.).
a. of a person.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 1550 And bad him [Esau] of his kindes louerd ben, In welðe and miȝt wurðinge ðen. a1300Cursor M. 755 Adam ȝode walkand in þat welth. c1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1288, 1290 And in welthe men wald ay be; Bot parfit men, þat þair lif right ledes, Welthe of þe worlde ay flese and dredes. Ibid. 1293 Worldly welthe. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xiii. (1495) 197 Noo man hath more welth [L. nullus est felicior] than he that hath a gode woman to his wyfe. c1450Merlin xxxiii. 680 The grete love that I haue to you hath made me forsake alle other.., for with-oute yow haue I neither ioye ne welthe. 1470–85Malory Arthur ix. xxxvii. 400 But whanne sekenes toucheth a prysoners body thenne may a prysoner say al welthe is hym berafte. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. Pref., Aboue all thynges, wherby mans welthe ryseth, speciall laude and cause ought to be gyuen to historie. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. x. 24 Lett no man seke his awne prophet: but lett every man seke his neghbours welthe. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer 122 To preserue thy people..in wealth, peace, and Godlynes. Ibid. 122 b, In all tyme of our tribulacion, in all tyme of our wealth. 1559― Prayer for Queen 12 Graunt her in health and wealthe longe to liue. 1592Soliman & Pers. v. i. 24 Vpon great affaires, Importuning health and wealth of Soliman, His highnes by me intreateth you. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. v. i. 249, I once did lend my bodie for thy wealth. 1596C. Fitzgeffrey Drake (1881) 104 And o long may wee have them, and enioy These worthies to our wealth, and thine annoy.
b. Contrasted with woe, wandreth, care.
a1300Cursor M. 23981 Wede o welth wil i namar, Clething wil i me tak o care. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2462 Welþe a-wey to wo þou [Fortune] strykes. 1357Lay Folks' Catech. (T.) 433 Euenly to sofir the wele and the wa, Welthe or wandreth, whethir so betides. a1529Skelton Agst. Garnesche iv. 124 Wherfore in welthe beware of woo. a1542Wyatt Epigr. xxiv. (1908) 51, I trust somtyme my harme may be my helth, Syns euery wo is ioynid to some welth. a1566R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (1571) H iij b, In wealth a double ioye, in woe a present stay, A sweete compagnion in eche state true Friend⁓ship is alway.
c. Of the world, a country, town, community, its people or members; hence (the common or public) welfare. Cf. commonwealth 1, public a. 2 a.
1390Gower Conf. Prol. 95 The world stod thanne in al his welthe: Tho was the lif of man in helthe, Tho was plente, tho was richesse. 1456Cov. Leet Bk. 290 Your own souerayn lorde & kynge..Whome God..preserve in good helthe..to this landys welthe! c1470Henry Wallace viii. 1610 Was neuir befor..Sic welth and pes at anys in the land. 1490Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 126 In divers matiers concernyng the welth of the same Town. 1521Cov. Leet Bk. 672 For the worship of the Cyte or the welthe of the Craft. c1530L. Cox Rhet. (1899) 46 That the maker of the lawe apply his hole studye to the welth of his subiectes. 1550J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §153 (1877) 101 You enpeche the welth of marchaundise, pyllyng and robbyng the christen people. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. vi. (1895) 218 The inuentyon of feates, helpynge annye thynge to the aduantage and wealthe of lyffe. 1552Huloet, Wealthe of a comminaltye, bonum publicum, respublica. 1557North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 454 He alwaies studied the wealth of his people. 1607in M. H. Peacock Hist. Wakefield Grammar Sch. iv. (1892) 56 And when I shall knowe any thinge..that..toucheth the welth or good order of this schole, I will call my fellowe governours together.
d. An instance or kind of prosperity; a felicity, blessing. Chiefly pl.
The pl. is also used as in 3 b.
a1300Cursor M. 23432 O welthes mar mai na man tell, þan haf to will o welth þe well. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 1319 For angres mans lyf clenses, and proves, And welthes his lif trobles and droves. c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 86 Whi is þis world biloued þat fals is & veyn, Siþen þat hise welþis ben so unserteyn? 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. clxxxii. 88 b/2 They sayd howe the noble men of the realme of Fraunce, knyghtes and squyers shamed the realme, and that it shulde be a great welth to dystroy them all. 1548Patten Exped. Scot. Pref. d j b, Whyche shoulde be greatly for the wealthes of vs bothe. 1560Irish Act 2 Eliz. c. 5 §1 That it hath pleased God..to preserue and keepe for vs and our wealths your royall Maiestie..to raigne ouer vs. a1652Brome Queen & C. iii. ii, And show The Elder sort how to improve Their Wealths by Neighbour-hood and Love.
†e. Used for: State, government (of a nation): = weal n.1 3 b. Obs. rare.
a1682Sir T. Browne Misc. Tracts x. (1683) 160 Julius Cæsar..was once in mind to translate the Roman wealth unto it [Troy].
†2. Spiritual well-being. Often in the testamentary phrase for the wealth of (one's) soul. Obs.
c1400Lay-Folks Mass-Bk. 30 (MS. F) And alle that hit hereth to here soules helthe, Thu [Lord] help hem with thi grace and thi welthe. c1450Godstow Reg. 652 For the helthe of her owne sowle and the welthe of her husbond. 1463in Somerset Med. Wills (1901) 201 And where as there can nott be soo hasty recompense as nedid for the welth of my soule therefore [etc.]. 1483Act 1 Rich. III c. 2 §1 Such memorialles as they had ordeigned to be done for the welth of their soules. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 It is all thynges that necessaryly is requyred to the welthe and helthe of mannes soule. 1537Instit. Christen Man A 7, I Beleue..that this Christe..liued..and..suffred..for our sakes, and for our welthe. 1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1541) 76 b, She..procured both suche as was for the welthe of his soule, and prepared holsome meates for his body. 1553Primer, Prayer Adversity V iij, As shal be moste metest and agreable to thyne honor and glory & to my moste perfecte wealth and euerlastynge saluacion.
3. a. Prosperity consisting in abundance of possessions; ‘worldly goods’, valuable possessions, esp. in great abundance: riches, affluence.
In mod. use wealth tends to be felt as a stronger term than riches.
c1250Gen. & Ex. 796 God gaf him ðor siluer and gold, And hird, and orf, and srud, and sat, Vn-achteled welðe he ðor bi-gat. Ibid. 2374 Of alle egiptes welðhe best Gaf he is breðere. a1275Prov. ælfred 382 Werldes welðe to wurmes shal wurþien. 1352Minot Poems vii. 153 For here es welth inogh to win, To make vs riche for euermore. a1400–50Wars Alex. 3582 Oure boundis ere barrayne and bare and þine full of welth. 1447O. Bokenham Seyntys, St. Faith 303 Alle these profers hye Of wurshyp welt or of dygnyte Wych dacyan hym hycht he set not a stye. 1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 394 Quhen he had warit all on me his welth, et his substance Me thoght his wit wes all went away with the laif. 1567Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 51 For all this warldis welth and gude, Can na thing ryche thy celsitude. 1570Levins Manip. 59/6 Welth, abundantia rerum. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. vii. 7 What art thou man..That..these rich heapes of wealth doest hide apart From the worldes eye? 1591Shakes. Two Gent. i. ii. 13 Iulia. What think'st thou of the rich Mercatio? Lucetta. Well of his wealth; but of himselfe, so, so. 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 99 Wealth makes worship. 1667Milton P.L. i. 722 When ægypt with Assyria strove In wealth and luxurie. 1701De Foe Trueborn Eng. i. (1703) 13 Wealth, howsoever got, in England makes Lords of Mechanicks, Gentlemen of Rakes. 1746Francis tr. Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 45 He..sack'd a royal Fort, Replete with various Wealth. 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. xi, My female companion..at first remonstrated against it: but upon producing my wealth, she immediately consented. 1770Goldsm. Des. Vill. 62 His best companions, innocence and health; And his best riches, ignorance of wealth. 1796H. Hunter tr. St. Pierre's Study Nat. (1799) II. 577 There the man of wealth would be instructed really to practise virtue. 1809Campbell Gertrude ii. xxiv, More than all the wealth that loads the breeze, When Coromandel's ships return from Indian seas. 1833Tennyson Lady Clara Vere de Vere 61 In glowing health, with boundless wealth. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop vii, Sole inheritor of the wealth of this rich old hunks. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 47 All this material wealth and splendour was of course in official connexion with the Church.
personified.1712Budgell Spect. No. 506 ⁋2, I have somewhere met with a Fable that made Wealth the Father of Love. 1813Byron Giaour 344 Alike must Wealth and Poverty Pass heedless and unheeded by.
†b. in pl., with reference to more than one possessor. Obs.
c1530Ld. Berners Golden Bk. M. Aurel. (1536) 157 b, Many leaue dyuers welthes that they haue in straunge landes, and lyue straitly, for to lyue in their owne land. 1574Mirr. Mag., Albanact lxiii, To late you shall repent the act When all my realme, and all your wealthes are sackt. 1650Stapylton Strada's Low C. Wars ii. 48 He would be supported by the counsels and wealths of forrein Princes.
†c. pl. Things in which material riches consist; rich and costly goods or possessions; luxuries. Obs.
1352Minot Poems x. 11 In holl þan þai hided grete welthes,..Of gold and of siluer, of skarlet and grene. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 83 Þe more he wynneth and welt welthes & ricchesse. c1400Sege Melayne 801 The Bischoppe..pyghte Pauylyons with mekill pryde, With wyne & welthes at will. c1450Holland Howlat 847 All thus thir hathillis in hall heirly remanit, With all welthis at wiss, and worschipe to vale. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1895) 106 Lawes, wherby all men shoulde haue and enioye equall portions of welthes and commodities.
d. Abundance of possessions or of valuable products, as characteristic of a people, country, or region; the collective riches of a people or country.
The phrase the wealth of nations had some currency before it was adopted by Adam Smith in the title of his famous work; but its early history is obscure.
1666Dryden Ann. Mirab., To Duchess of York 20 The Winds were hush'd, the Waves in ranks were cast..: Those, yet uncertain on whose Sails to blow, These, where the wealth of Nations ought to flow. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 2 High on a Throne of Royal State, which far Outshon the wealth of Ormus and of Ind. a1687Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 35 'Tis suppos'd that the Wealth of Ireland is about the 1/8 or 1/10 of that of England. 1737Pope Hor. Epist. i. i. 126 Their Country's wealth our mightier Misers drain. 1739C'tess of Hertford Corr. (1805) I. 152 He declared that he would rather live upon his small annuity all his days, than marry a woman he did not previously love, though she possessed the wealth of the Indies. 1752Johnson Rambler No. 202 ⁋6 To be poor, in the epic language, is only not to command the wealth of nations. 1757[Burke] Europ. Settlem. Amer. vii. xxviii. 274 Our American colonies..pour in upon us a wealth of another kind..from their fisheries. 1776A. Smith (title), An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 1778Johnson 17 Apr. in Boswell, As the Spanish proverb says, ‘He, who would bring home the wealth of the Indies, must carry the wealth of the Indies with him.’ 1820Byron Mar. Fal. v. i. 14 A city which has open'd India's wealth To Europe. 1858A. Trollope Dr. Thorne xxv, Not for all the wealth of India would he have given up his lamb to that young wolf.
e. said of a specific commodity as the chief source of a country's riches. Also with defining word, indicating a particular source.
1645Sir R. Weston Husb. Brabant (1652) 7 That Land is natural to bear Flax, which is called the Wealth of Flanders. 1854J. D. Whitney (title), The Metallic Wealth of the United States Described and Compared with that of other Countries.
f. fig.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 257, I freely told you all the wealth I had Ran in my vaines; I was a Gentleman. Ibid. iii. v. 61 Yet more quarrelling with occasion, wilt thou shew the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant. a1627Middleton Witch ii. i, O honestie's a rare wealth in a woman, It knowes no want. 1635–56Cowley Davideis iv. 488 To Help seems all his Power, his Wealth to Give; To do much Good his sole Prerogative. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 207 Beneath him..he views..To all delight of human sense expos'd..Nature's whole wealth. 1675Dryden Aurengz. iii. (1676) 47 Whom Heav'n would bless, from Pomp it will remove, And make their wealth in privacy and Love. 1697Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. 158 Those who come last [in the Roll of Time], seem to enter with Advantage. They are born to the Wealth of Antiquity. a1771Gray Death Hoel 9 He ask'd no heaps of hoarded gold; Alone in Nature's wealth array'd, He ask'd and had the lovely maid. 1820Hazlitt Lect. Dram. Lit. 12 There is no time more..prolific of intellectual wealth. 1868T. T. Lynch Rivulet cxlix. iii. (ed. 3), Then darkening heavens disclose Their starry wealth.
†g. Condition with regard to riches or poverty; degree of wealthiness. Obs.
1607Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe i. ii, It shall then bee giuen out, that I'me a Gentlewoman of such a birth, such a wealth,..and so foorth. 1662Petty Taxes & Contrib. 16 Ignorance of the Number, Trade, and Wealth of the people, is often the reason why the said people are needlesly troubled.
4. Economics. A collective term for those things the abundant possession of which (by a person or a community) constitutes riches, or ‘wealth’ in the popular sense.
There has been much controversy among economists as to the precise extent of meaning in which the term should be used. The definition that has been most widely accepted is that of Mill (quot. 1848 below).
1821Torrens Ess. Product. Wealth i. 3 When we say, a man of wealth, the term implies quantity, and signifies an abundance of the comforts and luxuries of life. But when we say, agriculture is a source of wealth, the accessory idea of quantity is not implied, and the term comprises the products of agriculture, whether they be raised from one acre or from a million; whether they are capable of subsisting an individual, or a nation. 1825Bentham Ration. Reward 237 All wealth is either the spontaneous production of the earth, or the result of labour, employed in the cultivation of the earth or upon the materials which it yields. 1832H. Martineau Life in Wilds ii. 23 Whatever lives, or grows, or can be produced, that is necessary or useful, or agreeable to mankind, is wealth. 1848Mill Pol. Econ. I. Prel. Rem. 8 Money, being the instrument of an important public and private purpose, is rightly regarded as wealth; but everything else which serves any human purpose, and which nature does not afford gratuitously, is wealth also. Ibid. 9 To an individual, anything is wealth, which, though useless in itself, enables him to claim from others a part of their stock of things useful or pleasant. Take for instance, a mortgage of a thousand pounds on a landed estate. This is wealth to the person to whom it brings in a revenue... But it is not wealth to the country; if the engagement were annulled, the country would be neither poorer nor richer. Ibid. 10 Wealth, then, may be defined, all useful or agreeable things which possess exchangeable value; or in other words, all useful or agreeable things except those which can be obtained, in the quantity desired, without labour or sacrifice. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 87 An attempt..was made to bring the production and distribution of wealth under the moral rule of right and wrong. 1883H. Sidgwick Pol. Econ. i. iii. 71 The wealth of any individual is considered to include all useful things—whether material things, as food, clothes, houses, &c., or immaterial things as debts, patents, copyrights, &c.—which..admit of being sold at a certain price. This aggregate is suitably measured by its exchange value; the common standard of value, money, being taken for convenience' sake. 1891Scrivener Fields & Cities xx. 194 The Companies Acts..have not, and will not, create wealth; it is not the function of law to create wealth,—only to regulate its distribution. Wealth is created..by labour. 1920A. W. Kirkaldy Wealth 15 If this definition [Mill's] be accepted, the importance of abundance disappears. Wealth may be a very small as well as a very big thing. A single pin..has exchange value, it is useful, and is therefore wealth... So is a motor-car or a fine yacht or an Atlantic liner.
5. Plenty, abundance, profusion (of what is specified). Also, the condition of abounding in something valuable.
1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 42 The firth..quhair gret welth of Salmonte. 1816Scott Old Mort. xxxiii, And they hae walth o' beef, that's ae thing certain, for here's a raw hide that has been about the hurdies o' a stot not half an hour syne. 1850Tennyson In Mem. Concl. xxvi, Again the feast, the speech,..the wealth Of words and wit. 1858Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 48 This wealth of silver, gold, and gems, that adorned the shrines of the saints. 1874Sayce Compar. Philol. vi. 217 The manifold wealth of articulate speech. 1882Rhys Celtic Brit. i. 21 There is no reason, however, to suppose that the great wealth of the country in iron ore had been discovered by Cæsar's time. 1894Conan Doyle Mem. Sherlock Holmes 218 With..dark Italian eyes, and a wealth of deep black hair.
6. attrib. and Comb. (chiefly objective and obj. gen.), as wealth-acquiring, wealth-bearing, wealth-centre, wealth-creating, wealth-creation, wealth-creator, wealth-despising, wealth-getting, wealth-holder, wealth-maker, wealth-making, wealth-monger, wealth-owner, wealth-producing, wealth-store, wealth-worship, wealth-yield, wealth-yielding; wealth-fantasy; instrumental, as wealth-elated, wealth-encumbered, wealth-fraught; † wealth boastingly adv., in a way that shows pride in wealth; wealth tax, a tax levied on the basis of a person's capital or financial assets.
1879Geo. Eliot Theo. Such xviii. 346 The predominance of *wealth-acquiring immigrants.
1865J. Macgregor Rob Roy on Baltic (1867) 269 The mighty, *wealth-bearing Thames.
1593Nashe Christ's T. T 3, Nothing about them but is *wealth-boastingly & elaborately beautified.
1890O. Crawfurd Round Calend. Portugal 19 The first stronghold and *wealth-centre of this ancient kingdom.
1964M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) x. 110 In the Roman world the army was the work force of a mechanized *wealth-creating process.
1892F. W. Bain (title), On the Principle of *Wealth-creation.
1740J. Dyer Ruins of Rome 330 Th' humble roof..Of good Evander, *wealth-despising king.
1801Mrs. Robinson Sylphid II. 149 (Jod.) The report..awakened the jealousy of the *wealth-elated baronet.
1844Ld. Leigh Walks in Country 79 A *wealth-encumber'd Peer.
1940‘G. Orwell’ in Horizon Mar. 181 This kind of thing is a perfectly deliberate incitement to *wealth-fantasy.
1798B. Johnson Orig. Poems 30 *Wealth-fraught keels in safety cut the seas.
1904R. T. Ely & Wicker Elem. Princ. Economics 3 Those social phenomena that are due to the *wealth-getting and wealth-using activities of man.
1957A. C. L. Day Outl. Monetary Econ. ii. 19 Similar considerations will influence many other *wealth-holders. 1980TWA Ambassador Oct. 14/1 Much of the growth in the number of wealthholders in the United States has been among the affluent, but clearly non-wealthy middle-class and upper-middle-class households.
1899Daily Tel. 11 Oct. 8/7 The *wealth-makers whom he always hated.
1964M. McLuhan Understanding Media (1967) x. 111 The Roman Army as a mobile, industrial *wealth-making force.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 396 These are sawcy Truths to obtrude on the Power-mongers, *Wealth-mongers, and Pleasure-mongers of the World. a1665J. Goodwin Being filled with the Spirit xvii. (1670) 476 If the Question should be put to all rich Wealth-mongers and Honour-mongers.
1896Daily Tel. 3 Feb. 4/7 The vast *wealth-producing industries of the Rand.
1891Meredith Invect. Achilles Poet. Wks. (1912) 554 Thou mayest gather here plunder and *wealth⁓store.
1963Daily Tel. 22 Feb. 26/6 (heading) *Wealth tax statement next week. 1974Guardian 23 Mar. 12/1 The Labour Party..suggested an annual wealth tax starting at 1 per cent on {pstlg}50,000, and running up to 5 per cent on {pstlg}400,000 and more. 1976Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Mar. 200/1 Until the final form of wealth tax has been decided it is not possible to decide whether it will be fiscally neutral as regards private woodlands.
1850Grote Greece ii. lxvii. VIII. 540 Plato was not the man to preach king-worship, or *wealth-worship, as social or political remedies. 1877Gladstone Glean. (1879) I. 168 The wealth-worship which marks and deforms our time.
191719th Cent. Dec. 1237 Its [sc. the ocean's] *wealth-yield appears to be beyond words bounteous.
1888Clodd Creation iv. 30 Rich as are igneous rocks in *wealth-yielding mineral veins and ores, they are..destitute of fossils.
▸ wealth effect n. orig. and chiefly U.S. the tendency of a person to spend increasing amounts of money as a result of his or her increase in personal wealth or perception that the economy at large is thriving.
1948A. P. Lerner in L. A. Metzler et al. Income, Employment & Public Policy iii. ii. 269 As the amount of money in the hands of the public increases, the public feels itself wealthier... This is part of the ‘*wealth effect’. It diminishes the tendency to save, and to work for the sake of saving, and increases demand while it diminishes supply. 1971N.Y. Times 23 June 63/4 The monetarists were highly skeptical of the wealth effect. Prof. George D. Green..produced a paper to show that the stock market boom and crash of 1929 had had slight effects upon the economy. 2000G. Soros Open Society iii. 71 The wealth effect of the stock market bubble favored a strong Christmas. |
