aid
/eɪd/ noun, verb
Also a form of aide
Forms aids aiding aided aide ayde
- noun (uncountable) Help; assistance; succor, relief. “He came to my aid when I was foundering.”
- noun (countable) A helper; an assistant.
- noun (countable) Something which helps; a material source of help. “Slimming aids include dietary supplements and appetite suppressants.”
- noun (countable, UK) An historical subsidy granted to the crown by Parliament for an extraordinary purpose, such as a war effort.
- noun (countable, UK) An exchequer loan.
- noun (countable, law) A pecuniary tribute paid by a vassal to his feudal lord on special occasions.
- noun (countable, chiefly in the plural, horse racing) The rider's use of hands, legs, voice, etc. to control the horse.
- verb (transitive) To provide support to; to further the progress of; to help; to assist.
- verb (climbing) To climb with the use of aids such as pitons.
Synonyms
assist befriend bestand cooperate help promote relieve succor succour support sustain serve assistance economic aid financial aid care attention tending
Etymology
From Middle English aide, eide, ayde, from Old French eide, aide, from aidier, from Latin adiūtō, adiūtāre (“to assist, help”). Cognates include Spanish ayuda, Portuguese ajuda and Italian aiuto.
From Middle English aiden, from Old French eider, aider, aidier, from Latin adiuto, frequentative of adiuvō (“assist”, verb).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To support, either by furnishing strength or means in coöperation to effect a purpose, or to prevent or to remove evil; to help; to assist.
- noun Help; succor; assistance; relief.
- noun The person or thing that promotes or helps in something done; a helper; an assistant.
Etymology [F. aider, OF. aidier, fr. L. adjutare to help, freq. of adjuvare to help; ad + juvare to help. Cf. Adjutant.]
Etymology [F. aide, OF. aïde, aïe, fr. the verb. See Aid, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “aid”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details