weaKener 
Fastinss and mortifications, . . . rightly managed, are 
hnge helps to piety, land] great wealmfrs of sin. 
South, Sermons, VI. 11. 
weak-eyed (wek'id), a. Having weak eyes or 
weak sight. Collins. 
weakfish (wek'fish), «. A scisenoid fish of the 
geutis Ci/iioscion (formerly Otolithus), as the 
squeteagiie : so called because it has a tender 
mouth, and cannot pull hard when hooked. The 
common wealiflsh or squeteague is C. regain (see cut un- 
der Cyiioscinn); the white weakfish, C. nothus ; the spot- 
ted w'ealiflsh, C. nebulos\ts. All three are excellent food- 
fishes ; they inhabit the Atlantic coast of the Ignited States, 
and in southerly regions are misnamed troid or ma-trout. 
weak-handed (wek'han"ded), a. Having weak 
hands ; hence, powerless ; dispirited. 
I will come upon him while he is weary and weak 
haruled. 2 Sam. xvii. 2. 
weak-headed (wek'hed'ed), a. Having a weak 
head or intellect. 
weak-hearted (wek'har"ted), a. Having little 
courage ; dispirited. 
I am able now, methinks, 
Out of a fortitude of soul I feet. 
To endure more miseries and greater far 
Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 390. 
weak-hinged (wek'hinjd), o. Ill-balanced; ill- 
founded. [Rare.] 
Not able to produce more accusation 
Than your own weak-hinged fancy. 
Shak., W. T., ii. 3. 119. 
weak-kneed (wek'ned), a. Having weak knees; 
hence, weak, especially as regards will or de- 
termination: as, a weak-kneed policy or effort. 
weakling (wek'ling), ». and a. [< wealc + 
-ling^.] I. n. A feeble creature. 
Weaklitin, Warwick takes his gift again. 
Shak., 3 HeniT VI., v. 1. 37. 
"Jane is not such a iveakUng as you would make her," 
he would say ; "she can bear a mountain blast, or a 
shower, or a few flakes of snow, as well as any of us." 
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, xxxiv. 
II. a. Feeble ; weak. 
This weakling cry of children. 
Harper't Mag., LXXXVI. 670. 
weakly (wek'li), a. [< ME. *weikhj (cf. Icel. 
veikVujr), earlier loocUc, loaclic, weakly, < AS. 
wdcllc, weak, vain, mean, vile, < wac, weak : 
see weak and -^j/l .] Weak ; feeble ; not robust : 
as, a weakly woman; a man of toeaklji constitu- 
tion. 
Those that are weakly, as Hypochondriacks andHys- 
Gideon Harvey, Vanities of Phil, and Physick (ed. 1702), vi. 
When I came at the gate that is at the head of the way, 
the Lord of that place did entertain me freely ; neither 
objected he against my weakly looks. 
Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, ii. 
weakly (wek'li), adv. [< ME. tracliche, woc- 
liclie, < AS. wacHce, weakly, meanly, vilely, 
< tfdcllc, weak: see weakly.'] In a weak man- 
ner, in any sense of the word weak. 
If a shoemaker should have no shoes in his shop, but 
only work as he is bespoken, he should be weakly^ customed. 
Bactm, Advancement of Learning, ii. 219. 
weak-minded (wek'min'ded), a. Of a weak 
mind; of feeble intellect; also, indicating weak- 
ness of mind. 
The Duke of York . . . prevailed for a time, and fruit- 
lessly endeavoured to hind a toeak-minded king by pledges. 
J. Gairdner, Richard III., i. 
If he should go abroad, his mother might think he had 
some weak-minded view of joining Julia Dallow, and try- 
ing, with however little hope, to win her l)ack. 
//. Jame^, Tragic Muse, xxxv. 
weak-mindedness (wek'min"ded-nes),H. The 
state orcharacter of being weak-minded ; irreso- 
lution; indecision. 
In homicidal maniacal cases there may be melancholy 
or tceak-mindednegs from the outset and no maniacal ex- 
citement. Foilniyhtly Her., N. S., XLIII. 449. 
weakness (wek'ncs), «. [< ME. weikencs, 
tveyke lie-sue; ef. AS. wucnya, weakness, < wdc, 
weak: see werttaud -He.s.s-.] The state orchar- 
acter of being weak, in any sense ; also, a weak 
point. 
.Hyn weikeneH of wemen may not wele stryve, 
Ne haue no might tawardea men maistries to fend. 
Destruction of Tray (E. E. T. S.), 1. 332.5. 
I think it is tiic weakness of mine eyes 
That shajtes tliis monstrous apparition. 
Shak., J. C, iv. 3.276. 
Weaknean is a negative term, and imports the absence of 
Btrcngtb. It is, besides, a relative term, and accordingly 
imp<.»rts the aljsence of such a quantity of strength as 
makes the share possessed by the person in question less 
than that of some person he is compared to. 
Beiitham, Introd. to Morals and Legislation, vi. 8, note. 
It is one of the prime weaknemea of a democracy to be 
fiatisticd with the second-best if it appear to answer the 
purpose tolerably well, and to be cheaper — as itnever is 
in the long run. Lowell, Harvard Anniversary, 1886. 
6858 
weak-sighted (wek'si"ted), a. Having weak 
siglit. A. Tucker. 
weak-spirited (wek'spir"i-ted), a. Having a 
weak or timorous spirit ; pusillanimous. Scott. 
weaky (we'ki), a. [< weak + -yi.] Moist; 
watery. [Prov. Eng.] 
weall (wel), n. [< ME. welc, weole, < AS. wela, 
toeala, wenla, weal, wealth, prosperity (= OS. 
wclo = OHG. iccla, wola, MHG. wole, G. wol, 
wolil = Sw. viil = Dan. vel, weal, welfare), < wel, 
well: see ioeW2. Ct. wealth.'] 1. Wealth; riches; 
hence, prosperity; success; happiness; well- 
being; the state of being well or prosperous : 
as, come weal or woe. 
Unwise is he that can no wele endure. 
Chaucer, Envoy of Chaucer to Bukton, 1. 27. 
And of this ye seide full trewe that moche wele and 
moche woo haue we suffred to-geder. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 555. 
In our olde vulgare, profite is called weale. 
,Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, i. 1. 
I sing the happy Rusticks weal, 
Whose handsom house seems as a Conmion-weal. 
Sylventer, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, i. 3. 
Glad I sul)mit, whoe'er, or young or old. 
Ought, more conducive to our weal, unfold. 
Pope, Iliad, xiv. 119. 
2t. The state : properly in the phrases common 
rceal, public iveal, general weal, meaning prima- 
rily ' the common or public welfare,' but used 
(the first now as a compound word) to designate 
the state (in which weal used alone is an ab- 
breviation of commonweal). 
A pttblike weale is a body lyuyng, compacte or made of 
sondry astates and degrees of men, whiche is disposed by 
the ordre of equite, and gouerned by the rule and modera- 
tion of reason. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, i. 1. 
The charters that you bear 
I' the body of the weal. Shak., Cor., ii. 3. 189. 
The public, general, or common weal, the interest, well- 
being, or prosperity of the community, state, or society. 
WeaUt (wel), V. t. [< weal^, «.] To promote 
the weal or welfare of. Fletcher (and another), 
False One, iv. 3. 
weaP (wel), n. and v. Same as wale^. 
weal'^t, ". Same as weeV^. 
weal* (wel), V. i. [Origin obscure.] To be in 
woe or want. HaUiwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
weal-balanced, a. An original misprint, in 
the following passage, of well-ialanced, cor- 
rected by some editors, but retained by some, 
and absurdly explained as "balanced with re- 
gard to the common weal or good." 
By cold gradation and well-balanced form 
We shall proceed with Angelo. 
Shak., M. for JI., iv. 3. KM. 
Weald (weld), n. [< late ME. weekl, appar. an 
irreg. form of wild (formerly pron. wild), early 
mod. E. wilde, wylde, found in same sense, con- 
fused by later writers with ME. wald, wold, wxld, 
< AS. weald, a forest : see wohU. The proper E. 
form of AS. weald is wold (parallel with bold, 
fold, hold, sold, told, etc.). The mod. spelling 
weald represents the earlier wceld, and has no- 
thing to do with AS. weald, unless it is due to 
Verstegan, who affected the ''restitution" of 
old forms.] 1. The name given in England to 
an oval-shaped area, bounded by a line topo- 
graphically well marked by an escarpment of 
the Chalk, which begins at Folkestone Hill, near 
the Straits of Dover, and jjasses through the 
counties of Kent, Surrey, Hants, and Sussex, 
meeting the sea again at Beachy Head, it em- 
braces the southwestern part of Kent.'the southern part 
of Surrey, the north and northeastern half of Sussex, and a 
small part of the eastern side of Hampshire. These are the 
limits of the area now known to geologists as the Weold ; 
but, according to the English Geological Survey, it is prob- 
able that the area anciently designated by that name was 
somewhat smaller than this, liaving been hounded by the 
escarpment of the Lower Greensand, which is approxi- 
mately concentric with that of the Chalk, but inside and 
distant from five to ten miles from it. This latter escarp- 
ment is, however, in places rather ill-deflned, so that there 
the boundary of the ancient Weald was doubtful. The 
geology of the Weald is extremely interesting, hence the 
name has become very familiar. 'The formixtions covering 
the Weald proper are known as the Wealden (which see). 
The Weald was originally partly covered with forests and 
partly destitute of them. 
The Historic of this Hogheard, presenteth to myminde 
an opinion, that some men mainteine touching this 
Weald: which is that it w.ts a great while togither in 
manner nothing els but a desart, and waste Wildernesse, 
not planted with Townes, or peopled with men, as the 
outsides of the shyre were, but stored and stuffed with 
iicards of Deere, and droues of Hogs only. Which con- 
ceit, tliough happily it may seem to many but a Paradoxe, 
yet in mine owne fantaisie, it wantetli not the feete of 
sound reason to stand upon. 
Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent (1596), p. 211. 
We know that the Weald proper, or that part of the 
c<»untry below the Lower Green.sand escarpment, was tlie 
part latest cultivated. Even as late as Elizabeth's time 
swine are said to have run wild here. 
Topley, Geol. of the Weald, p. 398. 
wealth 
3. \l. c] Any open country. [Rare, and most- 
ly in poetry.] 
But she to Almesbury 
Fled all night long by glimmering waste and weald. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
Wealden (wel'dn), a. and n. [Irreg. < Weald 
+ -eifi.] I. a. Of or pertaining to the Weald. 
II. n. In geol., the name of a formation ex- 
tensively developed in the Weald of England 
(see Weald), and interesting from its position 
and organic remains. Its geological age is Lower 
Cretaceous. The deposits of the Wealden, which have 
a total thickness of 1,800 feet, precisely resemble those 
of a modern delta, and the organic remains include land- 
plants, fresh-water shells, and a few estuarine or marine 
forms, as also dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterodactyls. 
The Wealden is separated into two divisions: the Weald 
Clay, at the top, about 1,000 feet thick, and the Hastings 
Sand group beneath, which is subdivided, in descending 
order, as follows: Tunbridgc Wells Sand, 1'20 to 180 feet 
thick; Wadhurst Clay, 120 to 180 feet; and Ashdown 
Sand, 400 to ,500 feet. The Wealden is overlain conform- 
ably by the Lower Greensand. 
wealdisht (wel 'dish), a. [< Weald, the Weald, + 
-isftl.] Of or belonging to a weald, especially 
[cap .] to the Weald of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. 
The Wealdish men. Fuller, Worthies, Kent, II. 111. 
wealfult (wel'ful), a. [< ME. welfid, weoleful; 
< icen/i -I- -fid.] Successful; prosperous; nap- 
py; joyous; felicitous. 
For thow ne wost what is the ende of thinges. forthy 
domesthow that felonos and wykked men ben myhty and 
weleful. Chaucer, Boethius, i. prose 6. 
To tell the jerkes with joy that joy do bring 
Is both a weale/ull and a wofull thing. 
Davxei, Holy Roode, p. 13. (Datia.) 
wealfulnessf (wel'ful-nes), n. [< ME. weleful- 
nesse; < wealfitl + -ncss.] Prosperity; success; 
happiness. 
In his opinioun of felicite, that I clepe wele/v2nesse. 
Chaucer, Boethius, i. prose 3. 
weal-publict (wel'pub"lik), n. The state ; the 
commonwealth ; the body politic ; the public 
weal : properly two words, like body politic. 
If you can find in your heart so to appoint and dispose 
yourself that you may apply your wit and diligence to the 
profit of the weal-public. 
Sir T. More, Utopia (tr. by Robinson), i. 
What is all this, either here or there, to the temporal 
regiment of WealptMick, whether it be Popular, Princely, 
or Monarchical ? Milton, Reformation in Eng., ii. 
weals-manf (welz'man), «. [< weaTs, poss. of 
tceal^, + man.] A statesman. 
Meeting two such weaUmen as you are — I cannot call 
you Lycurguses — if the drink you give me touch my pal- 
ate adversely, I make a crooked face at it. 
SAot., Cor., ii. 1.69. 
wealth (welth), n. [< ME. welthe, weolthe = 
MD. welde, D. weelde = MLG. welde, LG. weelde 
= OHG. trelida, welitha, wealth ; as well^ + -ih^. 
Cf. health, dearth, etc.] If. Weal; prosperity; 
well-being; happiness; joy. 
For I am fallen into helle 
From paradys and welthe. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 4137. 
I schall go to my fadir that I come froo. 
And dwelle with hym wynly in welthe all-way. 
York Playt, p. 265. 
Let no man seek his own, but every man another's 
wealth [but each his neighbour's good, R. V. ]. 1 Cor. x. 24. 
Grant her in health and wealth long to live. 
Book of Common Prayer [Eng.], Prayer for the Queen. 
2. Riches; valuable material possessions; that 
which serves, or the aggregate of those things 
which serve, a useful or desired purpose, and 
cannot be acquired without a sacrifice of labor, 
capital, or time; especially, large possessions; 
abundance of worldly estate; affluence; opu- 
lence. 
It shall then be given out that I'm a gentlewoman of 
sucli a birth, such a wealth, have had such a breeding, and 
so forth. Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, !. 2. 
Get place and wealth — if possible, with grace ; 
If not, by any means, get wealth and place. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, I. i. ItiS. 
Wealth, in all commercial states, is found to accumulate. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, xix. 
Things for which nothing could be obtained in exchange, 
however useful or necessary they may be, are not wealth 
in the sense in which the term is used in Political Econ- 
omy. J. S. Mitt, Pol. Econ., Prelim. Rem. 
Senior, again, has admirably defined wealth, or objects 
possessing value, as " those thin^ and those things only, 
which are transferable, are limited in supply, aiHi are 
directly or indirectly productive of pleasure or preventive 
of pain." Jemns, The Theory of Polit, Econ., p. 175. 
3. Affluence ; profusion ; abundance. 
Again the feast, the speech, the glee. 
The shade of passing thought, the wealth 
Of words and wit. 
Tennyson, In Memoriam, Conclusion. 
Active wealth. See active cai>ital, under active. =Syn. 
2. AJtuencr, Riches, etc. See opulence. 
