Assistant

How to spell assistant

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce assistant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does assistant mean?

1. nounA person who helps someone, often in their work or in a subordinate role.
2. adjectiveHolding a secondary or supporting position just below the main role.

Assistant in a sentence

• noun

  The dentist asked her assistant to prepare the next tray.

• adjective

  She was promoted to assistant manager of the branch.

• noun

  He hired a part-time assistant to manage his appointments.

• adjective

  The assistant coach ran the warm-up drills before the match.

Where does assistant come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb assistere, meaning 'to stand by' or 'to take one's stand near', formed from ad 'to, toward' and sistere 'to cause to stand'. The idea of standing beside someone naturally shaded into the idea of supporting or helping them. English picked it up in the 1400s through Old French assistant, the present participle that literally meant 'standing by', and used it for a person who stands ready to help. The same sistere root surfaces in a whole family of English words such as 'insist', 'persist', and 'resist', all of which involve some kind of standing firm. The spelling trap is the doubled s near the front, an inheritance from the Latin assimilation of ad- to as- before the s, while the ending is the agent suffix -ant rather than -ent.

How the word is built

• as- (from ad-: to, toward)
• sist (from sistere: to stand, take a stand)
• -ant (agent suffix: one who does)