aid

[eyd]
verb (used with object)
1.
to provide support for or relief to; help: to aid the homeless victims of the fire.
2.
to promote the progress or accomplishment of; facilitate.
verb (used without object)
3.
to give help or assistance.
noun
4.
help or support; assistance.
5.
a person or thing that aids or furnishes assistance; helper; auxiliary.
6.
aids, Manège.
a.
Also called natural aids. the means by which a rider communicates with and controls a horse, as the hands, legs, voice, and shifts in weight.
b.
Also called artificial aids. the devices by means of which a rider increases control of a horse, as spurs, whip, and martingale.
7.
aide-de-camp.
8.
foreign aid.
9.
a payment made by feudal vassals to their lord on special occasions.
10.
English History. (after 1066) any of several revenues received by a king in the Middle Ages from his vassals and other subjects, limited by the Magna Charta to specified occasions.
Origin:
1375–1425; (noun) late Middle English ayde < Anglo-French, Old French aide, noun derivative of aid(i)er < Latin adjūtāre to help (frequentative of adjuvāre), equivalent to ad- ad- + -jū- help + -t- frequentative suffix + -āre infinitive suffix; (v.) < Anglo-French, Old French aid(i)er < Latin, as above

Related forms
aid·er, noun
aid·ful, adjective
aid·less, adjective
un·aid·ed, adjective
un·aid·ed·ly, adverb
un·aid·ing, adjective

Can be confused: 1. aid, aide (see usage note at the current entry) ; 2. aides, aids, AIDS.

Synonyms
1. See help. 2. abet, back, foster, advance. 4. succor; relief; subsidy, grant.

Antonyms
2. hinder, frustrate.

Usage note
Although the nouns aid and aide both have among their meanings “an assisting person,” the spelling aide is increasingly used for the sense “helper, assistant”: One of the senator's aides is calling. Aide in military use is short for aide-de-camp. It is also the spelling in nurse's aide.
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to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

AID

[eyd]
noun U.S. Government.
the division of the United States International Development Cooperation Agency that coordinates the various foreign aid programs with U.S. foreign policy: established in 1961.
Origin:
A(gency for) I(nternational) D(evelopment)

AID

1.
American Institute of Decorators.
2.
American Institute of Interior Designers.
3.
Also, A.I.D. British. artificial insemination donor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To AID
Collins
World English Dictionary
aid (eɪd) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—vb
1.  to give support to (someone to do something); help or assist
2.  (tr) to assist financially
 
—n
3.  assistance; help; support
4.  a person, device, etc, that helps or assists: a teaching aid
5.  mountaineering Also: artificial aid any of various devices such as piton or nut when used as a direct help in the ascent
6.  (in medieval Europe; in England after 1066) a feudal payment made to the king or any lord by his vassals, usually on certain occasions such as the marriage of a daughter or the knighting of an eldest son
7.  informal (Brit) in aid of in support of; for the purpose of
 
[C15: via Old French aidier from Latin adjūtāre to help, from juvāre to help]
 
'aider
 
—n

Aid or -aid
 
—n combining form
denoting a charitable organization or function that raises money for a cause: Band Aid; Ferryaid
 
-aid or -aid
 
—n combining form

AID
 
—abbreviation for
1.  acute infectious disease
2.  artificial insemination (by) donor: former name for Donor Insemination (DI)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

aid
late 15c., "help, assistance," from O.Fr. aide, earlier aiudha, from L.L. adjuta, from fem. pp. of L. adiuvare (pp. adiutus) "to give help to," from ad- "to" + juvare "to help" (see adjutant). Meaning "thing by which assistance is given" is recorded from c.1600. Meaning
"material help given by one country to another" is from 1940.

aid
late 15c., from O.Fr. aidier, from L. adjutare, freq. of adiuvare (pp. adjutus) "give help to" (see adjutant).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

AID abbr.
artificial insemination donor

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

AID definition


Algebraic Interpretive Dialogue

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
AID
Agency for International Development
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Quite natural is their feeling and desire to aid those who are at war against the causes which so naturally antagonize them.
To aid the afflicted, new drugs are also in the works.
With the aid of such a powerful tool, medical treatment could be tailored to a
  patient's distinct genetic profile.
Quite apart from the countryside, they have failed to secure even the major
  cities and highways so that aid agencies can work.
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