weal

Etymology 1

From Middle English wele, from Old English wela (“wellness, welfare, prosperity, riches, well-being, wealth”), from Proto-Germanic *walô (“well-being, wellness, weal”). Cognate with German Wohl, Danish vel, Swedish väl.

noun

1. (obsolete) Wealth, riches.
2. (literary) Welfare, prosperity.
3. (by extension) 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!" 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 557
4. Specifically, the general happiness of a community, country etc. (often with qualifying word).
   Louis could aim to restyle himself the first among citizens, viewing virtuous attachment to the public weal as his most important kingly duty. 2002, Colin Jones, The Great Nation, Penguin, published 2003, page 372

Etymology 2

See wale.

noun

1. A raised, longitudinal wound, usually purple, on the surface of flesh caused by a stroke of a rod or whip; a welt.
   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. 1958, T. H. White, chapter 16, in The Once and Future King, London: Collins, published 1959
   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. 2007, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain, New York: Weinstein Books, Book Two, Chapter Twenty-One, p. 422

verb

1. To mark with stripes; to wale.