helpern.
/ˈhɛlpə/, U.S. /ˈhɛlpər/ 1. One who (or that which) helps or assists; an auxiliary. (Also with adverbs, as helper-off.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > [noun] > that which or one who helps or means of help
redeeOE
helpc893
bootOE
friendOE
lithc1275
helpera1300
a helping handa1300
helpingc1330
bieldc1352
succour?a1366
supplementc1384
easementa1398
succourer1442
aid?1473
assister1535
assistant?1541
adminicle1551
mystery1581
second1590
auxiliatory1599
subsidium1640
suffragan1644
facilitation1648
adminiculary1652
auxiliary1656
auxiliar1670
ally1794
Boy Scout1918
assist1954
facilitator1987
a1300 E.E. Psalter xxix. 11 [xxx. 10] Laverd mi helper made es he.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. ii. 20 To Adam forsothe was not foundun an helper like hym.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. lxxxxix. f. xxxixv Wherfore ye kynge sayd after in game, that Seynt Martyn was a good helper at nede.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres iv. 110 He hath all the officers of the regiment for helpers.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. iv. 21 It hath fated her to be my motiue And helper to a husband. View more context for this quotation
1670 S. Wilson Lassels's Voy. Italy (new ed.) i. 158 Guilding, mosaick work, and such like helpers off of bare walls.
1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 55 Must is sometimes called in for a helper, and denotes necessity; as, ‘We must speak the truth..’.
a1847 H. F. Lyte Remains (1850) 119 When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
2.
a. A person employed to assist in some kind of work; an assistant; spec. a groom's assistant in a stable.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to status > [noun] > assistant
assistant?1541
adjacent1600
help1645
helper1686
aide1762
asst1782
tenter1894
offsider1904
runabout1957
ancillary1962
gofer1967
the world > action or operation > easiness > aid, help, or assistance > [noun] > subsidiary or contributory help > a subsidiary help > person
helpa1325
yeoman1363
suffragana1450
assistant?1541
under-minister1543
under-aid1579
under-fellowa1586
adjutant1622
deacon1642
under-builder1651
subsidiary1661
under-instrument1673
helper1686
understrappera1704
âme damnée1797
bottle holder1816
acolyte1829
cad1836
bellows-blower1865
sidekick1893
side-kicker1894
Watson1927
stooge1955
1686 N. Cox Gentleman's Recreation (ed. 3) v. x. 94 You must have two or three Helpers, and..see that they..rub him dry all over.
1731 in Gentleman's Mag. July 308/1 One of the helpers in the king's stables.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ix. 87 Two sleepy helpers put the wrong harness on the wrong horses.
1849 G. C. Greenwell Gloss. Terms Coal Trade Northumberland & Durham 30 Helper up, a lad employed to assist the barrowman out of a dip place.
1892 Labour Comm. Gloss. Helpers, the persons in the blast furnace industry who help the keeper to mould the beds, run the metal in, and generally assist at the front of the furnace.
b. An assistant minister: among the early Methodists, and in Scottish churches. Now colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > other clergy > [noun] > assistant
helper1780
ceremoniarius1865
1780 Wesley in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. 232 You seem not well to have considered the Rules of a Helper, or the rise of Methodism.
1791 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) VIII. 309 Q. 25. What is the office of a Helper? A. In the absence of a Minister, to feed and guide the flock.
1849 M. Oliphant Margaret Maitland xii On that particular Sabbath I can scarce say I got much more from Mr. Wallace himself, the helper.
3. Hop-growing. (See quot. 1742.)
ΚΠ
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman July ix. 60 The common Number of [hop] Poles to each Hill are three; but..some add a fourth, called a Helper: This Helper is a larger Pole than the rest.
Derivatives
ˈhelper v. Hop-growing (transitive) to support with a ‘helper’ (see 3).
ΚΠ
1881 C. Whitehead Hops 35 The plants are ‘helpered’ by short, slight pieces of old poles up which the bines are trained to go.
ˈhelperess n. a female helper.Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1886 H. F. Lester Under Two Fig Trees 196 [To] act as a sort of lay helperess.
ˈhelpership n. the office or position of a helper.
ΚΠ
1893 W. Wallace Scotl. Yesterday 178 His successor in the ‘helpership’ had no objection to his ‘Veesiting’.
Draft additions January 2002
Immunology. Any of a subset of T lymphocytes that assist in the production of immune responses by generating lymphokines that stimulate antibody secretion by B cells, the development of cytotoxic T cells, and the activation of macrophages. Chiefly attributive, esp. in helper cell, helper T cell.
ΚΠ
1969 Transplantation Rev. 1 142 This ‘helping’ function of thymus-derived cells requires that they be alive and non-irradiated.]
1970 European Jrnl. Immunol. 1 21/2 ‘Helper cell’ and ‘AFCP’ [= antibody-forming cell precursors].
1972 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 180 359 Data previously referred to imply that whenever this is precluded by rapid induction of tolerance, either in mandatory helper T cells or in B cells directly..irreversible unresponsiveness will develop which requires cell recruitment for recovery.
1985 Science 2 Aug. 476/3 Clusters that had developed in the presence of specific proteins..generated lymphoblasts with radioresistant carrier-specific helper activity.
1992 Economist 1 Aug. 81/3 Since the mid-1980s work on mice has shown the existence of two job-specific subgroups of helper T-cell, called TH1 and TH2.
1994 Sci. News 20 Aug. 121/1 The lymphocytes made famous by AIDS..are CD4 T helpers, which carry CD4 molecules.
2000 Independent 1 June i. 3/4 During the day we have more ‘killer’ immune cells circulating in our blood; but at night other ‘helper’ cells from the immune system are more active.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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