the word 'wealthy' is a native english formation. its core, 'wealth', originates from the old english word 'wela', meaning 'well-being' or 'prosperity', combined with the abstract noun-forming suffix '-th', akin to '-th' in 'health'. this old english 'wela' itself is derived from the proto-germanic root welon-, related to the concept of 'well' or 'good'. the adjective-forming suffix '-y', of old english origin, was added to 'wealth' to create 'wealthy', literally meaning "characterized by wealth or well-being." the semantic journey thus moved from a general state of well-being to the specific modern sense of possessing abundant material riches.

Structure: wealth (noun suffix) + y (adjective suffix) wealth (from middle english welthe, from old english wel + the abstract noun suffix -th, of germanic origin). y (a native english suffix forming adjectives from nouns, meaning "characterized by; full of").