helper

See also: Helper

English

Etymology

From Middle English helpere, from Old English *helpere, from Proto-West Germanic *helpārī (“helper”), equivalent to help +‎ -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälper (“helper”), West Frisian helper (“helper”), Dutch helper (“helper”), German Low German Helper (“helper”), German Helfer (“helper”), Danish hjælper (“helper”), Swedish hjälpare (“helper”), Icelandic hjálpar (“helper”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlpɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

helper (plural helpers)

1. One who helps; an aide; assistant; auxiliary.
2. That which helps; anything serving to assist.
   • 2005, PC World, volume 23, page 158:

     While Adobe's Acrobat Reader, Macromedia's Flash player, and other common plug-ins suggest themselves the moment you encounter a site that requires them, other browser helpers are harder to find.

   • 2012, Jude Deveraux, The Mulberry Tree, page 84:

     He no longer liked food that had “helper” in the name, such as Hamburger Helper and Tuna Helper. Patsy said he'd become uppity, and maybe, when it came to food, he had.

   • 2014, Neale Blackwood, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants, page 154:

     If a particular calculation is to be used a few times, it makes sense to put it in a helper cell so that it can be referred to by other formulas.

3. (Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines) A person who does cleaning and cooking in a family home, or in a market; domestic employee.
4. (rail transport, US) A locomotive that assists a train, usually on steep gradients.

   Synonym: banker

   • 1964 November, “Automatic helper locomotive control on the Louisville & Nashville RR, USA”, in Modern Railways, page 354:

     A device for the automatic control of crewless helper locomotives cut into the make-up of heavy freight trains has been perfected by the Louisville & Nashville RR in conjunction with the General Railway Signalling Co.

5. (slang) A stimulating pill, especially amphetamine.
   • 1985, Priscilla Presley, Sandra Harmon, Elvis and Me, Putnam, →ISBN, page 152:

     And I routinely took more “helpers” when I woke up in order to maintain the fast pace and, more importantly, to study for my final exams.

Derived terms

• domestic helper
• helper dog
• helper grade
• helper T cell
• helper-up
• helper verb
• helper virus
• mother's little helper
• oath-helper
• plumber's helper
• T helper cell

 

Translations

one who helps

• Albanian: ndihmës (sq) m
• Arabic: مُسَاعِد (ar) m (musāʕid)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܥܕܘܪܐ m (ʿāḏōrā), ܥܕܘܪܬܐ f (ʿāḏōrtā), ܡܥܕܪܢܐ m (məʿaddərānā), ܡܥܕܪܢܝܬܐ f (məʿaddərānīṯā)

• Armenian: օգնական (hy) (ōgnakan)
• Azerbaijani: köməkçi (az), yardımçı
• Bashkir: ярҙамсы (yarźamsı)
• Belarusian: памо́чнік m (pamóčnik), памо́чніца f (pamóčnica)
• Bengali: সহায়ক (bn) (śohaẏok)
• Bulgarian: помо́щник (bg) m (pomóštnik), помо́щничка f (pomóštnička), помо́щница f (pomóštnica), помага́ч (bg) m (pomagáč), помага́чка f (pomagáčka)
• Burmese: အကူ (my) (a.ku)
• Catalan: ajudant (ca) m, ajudador m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 幫手／帮手 (zh) (bāngshǒu), 助手 (zh) (zhùshǒu)

• Czech: pomocník (cs) m, pomocnice (cs) f
• Danish: hjælper (da) c
• Dutch: helper (nl) m, helpster (nl) f
• Estonian: aitaja, abiline (et)
• Finnish: auttaja (fi), avustaja (fi), apuri (fi), apulainen (fi)
• French: assistant (fr) m, assistante (fr) f
• Georgian: დამხმარე (damxmare), მშველელი (mšveleli)
• German: Helfer (de) m, Helferin (de) f
• Greek: βοηθός (el) m or f (voïthós)

  Ancient: βοηθός m (boēthós), συνέντης m (sunéntēs)

• Hebrew: עוֹזֵר m (ozér)
• Hindi: सहायक (hi) m (sahāyak)
• Hungarian: segítő (hu), segéd (hu)
• Ido: helpanto (io), helpero (io), helpisto (io)
• Indonesian: penolong (id)
• Irish: cúntóir
• Italian: aiutante (it) m, assistente (it), supporto (it) m, apprendista (it)
• Japanese: 助手 (ja) (じょしゅ, joshu), 手伝い (ja) (てつだい, tetsudai), ヘルパー (ja) (herupā)
• Kazakh: көмекші (kömekşı)
• Khmer: អ្នកជំនួយ (nĕək cumnuəy)
• Korean: 조수 (ko) (josu)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: alîkar (ku)

• Kyrgyz: жардамчы (ky) (jardamcı)
• Ladino:

  Latin: ayudador m

• Lao: ຜູ້ຊ່ວຍ (phū suāi)
• Latin: adiūtor (la) m, auxiliātor m, optiō m, administer m
• Low German:

  German Low German: Hölper m, Hölpersche f, Hölperin f

• Macedonian: помагач m (pomagač), помагачка f (pomagačka), помошник m (pomošnik), помошничка f (pomošnička)
• Maori: uruora
• Mongolian: туслагч (mn) (tuslagč)
• Ngazidja Comorian: mpveshezi class 1/2
• Old English: helpend m
• Pashto: مرستونی m (mrastunay)
• Persian: دستیار (fa) (dastyâr), آسیستان (fa) (âsistân)
• Plautdietsch: Halpa m
• Polish: pomocnik (pl) m, pomocnica (pl) f
• Portuguese: ajudante (pt) m or f
• Romanian: ajutor (ro) m, ajutoare (ro) f
• Russian: помо́щник (ru) m (pomóščnik), помо́щница (ru) f (pomóščnica), ассисте́нт (ru) m (assistént), ассисте́нтка (ru) f (assisténtka), подру́чный (ru) m (podrúčnyj) (worker)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: помо̀ћнӣк m, асѝстент m

  Roman: pomòćnīk m, asìstent (sh) m

• Slovak: pomocník m, pomocníca f
• Slovene: pomočnik m, pomočnica f
• Spanish: ayudante (es) m or f, ayudador (es) m
• Sranan Tongo: yepiman
• Swahili: msaidizi (sw)
• Swedish: medhjälpare (sv) c
• Tajik: ёрдамчӣ (yordamčī)
• Tatar: ярдәмче (tt) (yardämçe)
• Telugu: సహాయకుడు (sahāyakuḍu)
• Thai: ผู้ช่วย (th) (pûu-chûai)
• Turkish: yardımcı (tr)
• Turkmen: kömekçi
• Ukrainian: помічни́к m (pomičnýk), помічни́ця f (pomičnýcja)
• Uyghur: ياردەمچى (yardemchi)
• Uzbek: yordamchi (uz)
• Vietnamese: phó thủ
• Volapük: (♂♀) yufan (vo), (♂) hiyufan, (♀) jiyufan (vo)

Further reading

• Jonathon Green (2024) “helpers n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang

Anagrams

• Hepler

Cebuano

Etymology

From English helper.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hel‧per

Noun

helper

1. a maid; a servant or cleaner
2. an aide

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch helpere. Equivalent to helpen +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦɛl.pər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hel‧per

Noun

helper m (plural helpers, diminutive helpertje n)

1. One who helps, gives aid; deputy, assistant, aide, flunky

   Synonyms: assistent, hulp

Descendants

• Negerhollands: helper