Etymograph

English

aid

Aid comes from Old French aide, from aidier ‘to help’, from Latin adiūtō ‘to assist’, a frequentative of adiuvō ‘to help’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadiūtō1as adiūtō‘to assist’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aidier1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eide1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aide1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611aid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English aid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “It is not good that man should bee alone,…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadiūtōWiktionary, English aidas adiūtō‘to assist’
  2. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aidierWiktionary, English aid
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eideWiktionary, English aid
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aideWiktionary, English aid
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1611aidWiktionary, English aid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “It is not good that man should bee alone,…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with aid, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin adiuvō ‘help, assist’

  • coadjutor ← coadjutowre ← coadjuteur ← coadiūtōrem ← adiūtor

through Latin adiuto ‘to assist, help’

through Old French aidier

13 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of aid

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEiuvōas iuvere‘to help, aid’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadiuvō‘help, assist’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadiuto
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eider
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aiden‘to aid’
  6. Englishtodayaid

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Today it means

noun Help; assistance; succor, relief.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “aid”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin adiūtō / aid