aid
Pluralaids (some meanings)
Pluralaids (some meanings)
- 1Help or support given to someone who needs it.
Like a helping hand reaching out when someone is in trouble.
Rescue workers brought aid to the families left homeless by the flood.
She offered aid to the lost traveler without a second thought.
UsagePeople often say come to someone's aid, and give aid to a place or group.
Similarhelp, assistance, support, relief
- 2To help someone or something succeed or make progress.
Like giving someone a push to help them up a hill.
Volunteers aid the elderly with their weekly shopping.
Good lighting can aid your eyes when you read at night.
UsageSay aid someone in doing something. You can also say a person is aided by something.
Similarhelp, assist, support, facilitate
- 3A thing that helps you do something more easily.
Like a step stool that helps you reach a high shelf.
A map is a useful aid when you explore a new city.
The teacher used pictures as an aid for younger learners.
UsageOften with a word for the job: a walking aid, a hearing aid. You can have one aid or many aids.
Note
Less common meanings
- 4A person who helps or assists someone else. It is more often spelled aide.
The general's aid rode ahead with the orders.
Each officer had an aid to carry his messages.
UsageFor a person who helps, most people write aide. Aid usually means help.
Note
- 5A signal a rider gives a horse with the hands, legs, seat, or voice to guide it.
Like a small nudge that tells someone which way to go.
A gentle aid from the rider's leg told the pony to turn left.
She learned to give a clear aid so the horse knew when to stop.
UsageA rider gives the horse an aid, and the horse responds to it.
Note
- 6To climb a rock face using gear like metal spikes to hold your weight.
Like using a ladder to get up a wall you can't climb with bare hands.
They had to aid up the smooth wall where there were no handholds.
Climbers often aid through sections too blank to free climb.
Note
- 7Money that Parliament once granted the king for a special need, like paying for a war.
In this parliament was granted to the king for defence against the Scots two aids and two quindecims, the which two aids did not extend over two quindecims.
2019, Julia Boffey, Henry VII's London in the Great Chronicle - 8Money that a person paid to the lord who controlled their land, given on special occasions.
- 9A loan arranged through the Exchequer, the British government's treasury.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
This word came from Old French "aide" and before that from Latin words meaning "to help."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Aid came from Old French aide. en.wiktionary.org
- Its earlier Latin ancestry had the meaning to help. en.wiktionary.org
This verb came from Old French and before that from a Latin verb meaning "to help."
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The verb aid came from Old French. en.wiktionary.org
- The French source derives from a Latin verb meaning to help. en.wiktionary.org