aid English · revision 3429

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la iuvō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /eɪd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The verb is [[inh|enm|aiden]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|aidier|t=to help, assist]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|adiūtāre]], frequentative of [[m|la|adiuvāre|t=to give help to]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|la|ad|t=to]] and [[m|la|iuvāre|t=to help, give strength]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) of uncertain origin,^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps related to the root of [[m|la|iuvenis|t=young person]].^(Etymonline) The noun is from Old French aide, from [[la-lat|adiūta]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[adjutant]] and [[aide]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, to help: about 1400 in Etymonline and probably before 1400 in Barnhart.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, a wartime tax to the Crown: probably 1419, and “help, support” from 1430.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In medieval England an aid was also a payment owed by a vassal to his lord.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) A person who helps is from the 1560s,^(Etymonline) and a thing by which help is given, such as a hearing aid, from the 1590s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) ''In aid of'', “in support of a cause or charity”, is from 1837, and in colloquial British use “for the purpose of”, as in ''what's this in aid of?''.^(OED 1989)^(COED 2004) Material help from one country to another is from 1940.^(Etymonline) In Shropshire dialect an ''aid'' was a gutter cut across a ploughed field.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – verb, to help.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1419 – noun, a wartime tax.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1430 – help, support.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1560s – a helper.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – a device that helps.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1837 – ''in aid of''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1940 – foreign aid.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To help or [[assist]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Help or assistance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Money, food or other help given to a country or people in need.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A person or thing that helps: ''a hearing aid''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(history)'' A payment by a [[vassal]] to his feudal lord.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[aider]]

+ * [[aidful]]

+ * [[aidless]]

+ * [[aid-de-camp]]

+ * [[aidman]]

+ * [[band-aid]]

+ * [[grant-in-aid]]

+ * [[Medicaid]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aide-de-camp]]

+ * [[aide]]

+ * [[adjutant]]

+ * [[adjuvant]]

+ * [[coadjutor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}