Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Origin: well fare 'to fare well'

welfare

 noun
     
Related topics: Welfare
wel‧fare S3 W2 [uncountable]
1 someone's welfare is their health and happiness:
Our only concern is the children's welfare.
2 help that is provided for people who have personal or social problems
welfare benefits/services/programmes etc
the provision of education and welfare services
The company's welfare officer deals with employees' personal problems.
3 American English money that is paid by the government in the US to people who are very poor or unemployed [= benefit British English]
on welfare
Most of the people in this neighborhood are on welfare.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary