wel-1. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	wel-¹
DEFINITION:	To wish, will. Derivatives include wealth, gallop, gallant, and voluptuous. 1. well², from Old English wel, well (< “according to one's wish”), from Germanic wel-. 2. weal¹, wealth, from Old English wela,* weola, well-being, riches, from Germanic weln-. 3. will¹, from Old English willa,* desire, will power, from Germanic wiljn-. 4. will²; nill, willy-nilly, from Old English willan,* to desire, from Germanic wil(l)jan. 5. Germanic compound wil-kumn- (see g^w-). 6. O-grade form wol-. a. gallop, from Old French galoper,* to gallop; b. wallop, from Old North French waloper, to gallop; c. gallant; gallimaufry, from Old French galer,* to rejoice, from Frankish Latin walre, to take it easy, from Frankish wala, good, well. a–c all from Germanic wal-. 7. Basic form wel-. velleity, volition, voluntary; benevolent, malevolence, from Latin velle (present stem vol-), to wish, will. 8. Probably suffixed extended form wel-p-i-. voluptuary, voluptuous, from Latin volupts,* pleasure, from an adjective volupis, pleasing (probably preserved in the adverb volup,* with pleasure, from neuter volupe). (Pokorny 2. el-* 1137.)


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.