'bienestar' originates from Spanish, specifically the compound of 'bien' and 'estar', where 'bien' comes from Latin 'bene' meaning 'well' and 'estar' derives from Latin 'stare' (through Vulgar Latin) meaning 'to stand' / developed into 'to be' in Romance languages.

'bienestar' was formed in Spanish by compounding 'bien' (Old Spanish from Latin 'bene') + 'estar' (from Vulgar Latin *stare → Old Spanish estar) and eventually became the modern Spanish word 'bienestar'.

Initially the components meant 'well' (bene) and 'to stand/be' (stare); over time the compound came to mean 'a state of being well' or 'well-being'.