AIDS

[eydz]
noun Pathology.
a disease of the immune system characterized by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections, as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and candidiasis, to certain cancers, as Kaposi's sarcoma, and to neurological disorders: caused by a retrovirus and transmitted chiefly through blood or blood products that enter the body's bloodstream, especially by sexual contact or contaminated hypodermic needles.
Compare AIDS virus.

Origin:
1982; a(cquired) i(mmune) d(eficiency) s(yndrome)

Can be confused: aides, aids, AIDS.
00:10
Aids is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

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.

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)

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To aids
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)

AIDS or Aids (eɪdz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n acronym for
acquired immune (or immuno-)deficiency syndrome: a condition, caused by a virus, in which certain white blood cells (lymphocytes) are destroyed, resulting in loss of the body's ability to protect itself against disease. AIDS is transmitted by sexual intercourse, through infected blood and blood products, and through the placenta
 
Aids or Aids
 
—n acronym for

AIDS or Aids (eɪdz) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n acronym for
acquired immune (or immuno-)deficiency syndrome: a condition, caused by a virus, in which certain white blood cells (lymphocytes) are destroyed, resulting in loss of the body's ability to protect itself against disease. AIDS is transmitted by sexual intercourse, through infected blood and blood products, and through the placenta
 
Aids or Aids
 
—n acronym for

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
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).

AIDS
1982, acronym formed from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. AIDS cocktail attested by 1997, the thing itself said to have been in use from 1995.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

AID abbr.
artificial insemination donor

AIDS (ādz)
n.
A severe immunological disorder caused by HIV, transmitted primarily through venereal routes or by exposure to contaminated blood or blood products, resulting in a defect in cell-mediated immune response manifested by increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections and to certain rare cancers, especially Kaposi's sarcoma.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Science Dictionary
AIDS   (ādz)  Pronunciation Key 
Short for acquired immune deficiency syndrome. An infectious disease of the immune system caused by an human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS is characterized by a decrease in the number of helper T cells, which causes a severe immunodeficiency that leaves the body susceptible to a variety of potentially fatal infections. The virus is transmitted in infected bodily fluids such as semen and blood, as through sexual intercourse, the use of contaminated hypodermic syringes, and placental transfer between mother and fetus. Although a cure or vaccine is not yet available, a number of antiviral drugs can decrease the viral load and subsequent infections in patients with AIDS.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
AIDS [(aydz)]

Acronym for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, a fatal disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. Believed to have originated in Africa, AIDS has become an epidemic, infecting tens of millions of people worldwide. The virus, which is transmitted from one individual to another through the exchange of body fluids (such as blood or semen), attacks white blood cells, thereby causing the body to lose its capacity to ward off infection. As a result, many AIDS patients die of opportunistic infections that strike their debilitated bodies. AIDS first appeared in the United States in 1981, primarily among homosexuals and intravenous drug users who shared needles, but throughout the world, it is also transmitted by heterosexual contact. Today, scientists are hopeful that AIDS can be managed by new drugs, such as protease inhibitors, and need not be fatal. (See AZT.)

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

AIDS

/aydz/ n. Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple or Amiga), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX. See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin.
Jargon
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

AIDS definition

jargon
/aydz/ A* Infected Disk Syndrome ("A*" is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple Computer), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX.
See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin.
[Jargon File]
(1995-04-13)

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
AIDS
acquired immune deficiency syndrome
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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