Assistance

How to spell assistance

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce assistance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does assistance mean?

1. nounThe act of helping or supporting someone, or the help itself.

Assistance in a sentence

• The elderly tenant needed assistance with her weekly shopping.

• Financial assistance is available to students from low-income households.

Where does assistance come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin assistentia, built on the verb assistere, which literally meant 'to stand beside' or 'to take one's stand near'. That verb joined the prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', to sistere, meaning 'to stand', so the original picture was of someone standing next to another person, ready to support them. English borrowed it through Old French in the late Middle Ages, by which time the idea of standing nearby had softened into the modern sense of giving help or support. The same sistere root, meaning 'to stand', also gives us 'resist' (to stand against), 'persist' (to stand firmly through), and 'consist'. The spelling trap is that doubled 's' early in the word and the unstressed -ance ending, which sounds identical to the -ants of its plural homophone 'assistants'.

How the word is built

• as- (from ad-: to, toward)
• sist (from sistere: to stand, take a stand)
• -ance (noun suffix denoting a state or quality)