Baseball. a play that helps to put out a batter or base runner.
b.
Basketball,Ice Hockey. a play that helps a teammate in gaining a goal.
c.
the official credit scored for such plays.
6.
a helpful act: She finished her homework without an assist from her father.
7.
Machinery. an electrical, hydraulic, or mechanical means of increasing power, efficiency, or ease of use: a luxury automobile equipped with assists for brakes, steering, windows, and seat adjustment.
Origin: 1505–15; < Latin assistere to stand by, help, equivalent to as-as- + sistere to (cause to) stand (si- reduplicative prefix + -ste- (variant of sta-stand) + -re infinitive suffix)
early 15c., from M.Fr. assister "to stand by, help, put, place, assist" (14c.), from L. assistere "assist, stand by," from ad- "to" + sistere "take a stand, cause to stand," from PIE *siste-, reduplicated form of base *sta- "to stand" (see stet). Sporting sense (n.) is attested