assist

/ə-ˈsist/

Middle English assisten "to help, aid, give aid (to)," borrowed from Anglo-French assister (Middle French also "to be present near, stand near" [with a "to"]), borrowed from Latin assistō, assistere "to take up a position near, stand by, stand by as a supporter or advocate," from ad- ad-as-) + sistere "to cause to stand, assume a standing position, place, check, halt," going back to Indo-European *sti-sth-e-, reduplicated present formation from the base *steh- "set up (in a place), take a position," whence also Old Irish ˑsissedar (in arˑsissedar "[s/he] stays, stands fast"), Greek hístēmi, histánai "to cause to stand, place," hístamai, hístasthai "to take up a position, come and stand," Sanskrit tíṣṭhati "(s/he) takes a position, stands," Avestan hištaṇti "(they) take a position"

verb

  1. to give usually supplementary support or aid to

  2. to give support or aid

  3. to be present as a spectator

She assisted the boy with his lessons.

noun

  1. an act or action that helps someone : an act of assistance

  2. the action (such as a throw or pass) of a player who enables a teammate to make a putout (as in baseball) or score a goal (as in basketball or hockey); also : official credit given for such an action

  3. a mechanical or electromechanical device that provides assistance

He wrote the story with an assist from a friend. {gloss}=with the help of a friend{/gloss}

noun

  1. a device that is implanted in the chest or upper abdomen to assist the left or right ventricle in pumping blood in a damaged or weakened heart —called also VAD