assist

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈsɪst/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English assisten, borrowed from Middle French assister (“to stand by, help”),^[2][3][4] from Latin assistere (“to stand by, take a stand near, attend”), from ad- (“to”) and sistere (“to take a stand, cause to stand”), related to stāre “to stand”.^[2][3][4] It is related to stand, consist, insist and resist.^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To help or give support: 1426 in Barnhart, in the Proceedings of the Privy Council, the early 15th century in Etymonline.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it also meant to stand near or attend someone,^[6][7] and in 1626 it took on the sense “to be present” at a ceremony or entertainment, after French assister à, now archaic.^[6][8] The noun, an act of help, is from 1597, the 1570s in Etymonline,^[6][2] and is now chiefly American.^[9] In sport an assist is a player's help in putting out an opponent or scoring: in baseball from 1877, and in ice hockey from 1925.^[2]

Timeline

• 1426 – to help.^[3]
• 1597 – noun, an act of help.^[6][3]
• 1626 – to be present at.^[6]
• 1877 – in baseball.^[2]
• 1925 – in ice hockey.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To help someone or something; to aid.
2. To work as an assistant to someone.
3. (archaic) To be present at an event.

Noun

1. (chiefly US) An act of help.
2. (sports) An action, such as a pass, that helps a teammate to score or to put out an opponent.

Word family

• assister
• assistive
• unassisted
• overassist
• power assist

Related words

• assistant
• assistance
• consist
• insist
• resist
• persist

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press