aide

[ eyd ]

noun

1. an assistant or helper, especially a paid employee:

   Years ago, my mom was a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom.

2. nurse's aide:

   During the war she worked as an aide in a field hospital, changing bedpans and cleaning floors.

3. aide-de-camp.
4. an assistant or advisor to a public figure, especially one who works for a person in public office:

   He is a journalist and former White House aide.

5. home health aide:

   The agency just called to say my mom's aide didn't show up this morning.

aide

/ eɪd /

noun

1. an assistant
2. social welfare an unqualified assistant to a professional welfare worker
3. short for aide-de-camp

Confusables Note

See aid.

Word History and Origins

Origin of aide¹

An Americanism first recorded in 1770–80; from French: literally, “helper”; aid

Example Sentences

Patel is a former Trump aide and spent three years working in the Department of Justice.

From Salon

Trump “is going to hit the Department of Justice with a blowtorch — and that torch is Matt Gaetz,” former Trump aide Stephen K. Bannon said last week.

From Los Angeles Times

Nazarian, a former state Assembly member and former aide to Krekorian, said in a phone call Tuesday that he was “tired” but in “great spirits.”

From Los Angeles Times

Those moves “would turn much of the civil service into an army of suck-ups,” Robert Shea, a former aide to President George W. Bush, told me this year.

From Los Angeles Times

The chief of staff is considered to be the president's top aide, and plays a crucial role in every president's administration.

From BBC

Related Words

• assistant
• deputy
• supporter