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; (n.) late ME ayde < AF, OF aide, n. deriv. of aid(i)er < L adjūtāre to help (freq. of adjuvāre), equiv. to ad-ad-+ -jū- help + -t- freq. suffix + -āre inf. suffix; (v.) < AF, OF aid(i)er < L, as above]
—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.
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.
aidAudio Help (ād) Pronunciation Key
intr. & tr.v.
aid·ed, aid·ing, aids
To help or furnish with help, support, or relief. See Synonyms at help.
n.
The act or result of helping; assistance.
An assistant or helper.
A device that assists: visual aids such as slides.
A hearing aid.
An aide or aide-de-camp.
A monetary payment to a feudal lord by a vassal in medieval England.
[Middle English aiden, from Old French aider, from Latin adiūtāre, frequentative of adiuvāre, to help : ad-, to; see ad- in Indo-European roots + iuvāre, to help.]
1475, "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," of unknown origin. The verb is 1483, from O.Fr. aidier, from L. adjutare, freq. of adiuvare. Meaning "thing by which assistance is given" is recorded from 1597. Meaning "material help given by one country to another" is from 1940.
the activity of contributing to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "he gave me an assist with the housework"; "could not walk without assistance"; "rescue party went to their aid"; "offered his help in unloading"
3.
money to support a worthy person or cause
4.
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something; "no medical care was required"; "the old car needs constant attention" [syn: care]
verb
1.
give help or assistance; be of service; "Everyone helped out during the earthquake"; "Can you help me carry this table?"; "She never helps around the house" [syn: help]
2.
improve the condition of; "These pills will help the patient" [syn: help]
Ad"ju*tant\, n. [L. adjutans, p. pr. of adjutare to help. See Aid.]1. A helper; an assistant. 2. (Mil.) A regimental staff officer, who assists the colonel, or commanding officer of a garrison or regiment, in the details of regimental and garrison duty. Adjutant general (a) (Mil.), the principal staff officer of an army, through whom the commanding general receives communications and issues military orders. In the U. S. army he is brigadier general. (b) (Among the Jesuits), one of a select number of fathers, who resided with the general of the order, each of whom had a province or country assigned to his care. 3. (Zo["o]l.) A species of very large stork (Ciconia argala), a native of India; -- called also the gigantic crane, and by the native name argala. It is noted for its serpent-destroying habits.
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Audio Help [eyd] Pronunciation Key 
