Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Welfare
Wel′fareˊ
,Noun.
[
Well
+ fare
to go, to proceed, to happen.] 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.
How to study for the people’s
welfare
. Shakespeare
In whose deep eyes
Men read the
Men read the
welfare
of the times to come. Emerson.
Webster 1828 Edition
Welfare
WELFARE
,Noun.
1.
Exemption from misfortune, sickness, calamity or evil; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; prosperity; happiness; applied to persons.2.
Exemption from any unusual evil or calamity; the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, or the ordinary blessings of society and civil government; applied to states.