helpmate, helpmeet

helpmate, helpmeet
These words, of which the first is more often used, mean "a helpful companion" and usually refer to a spouse, especially a wife. In the second chapter of the Book of Genesis, God creates Eve as a "help meet", for Adam, with help meaning "someone to provide assistance" and meet meaning "suitable," "proper." Later, help and meet were joined by a hyphen and still later were run together as helpmeet. Because helpmate sounds better and more logical to the modern ear and mind, helpmate is preferable, but helpmeet is equally correct.

Dictionary of problem words and expressions. . 1975.

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  • helpmate, helpmeet — ▶ noun HELPER, assistant, attendant; supporter, friend, companion; spouse, partner, mate, husband, wife …   Useful english dictionary

  • helpmeet — See helpmate, helpmeet …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • helpmate — See helpmate, helpmeet …   Dictionary of problem words and expressions

  • Helpmeet — Help meet , n. [See {Helpmate}.] A wife; a helpmate. [1913 Webster] The Lord God created Adam, . . . and afterwards, on his finding the want of a helpmeet, caused him to sleep, and took one of his ribs and thence made woman. J. H. Newman. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • helpmate — companion, 1715, altered from HELPMEET (Cf. helpmeet), a ghost word, from the Biblical translation of L. adjutorium simile sibi [Gen. ii.18] as an help meet (i.e. fit) for him (Heb. ezer keneghdo), which already by 1673 was being printed as help… …   Etymology dictionary

  • helpmeet — as two words in the 1611 Bible, a noun verb phrase; hyphenated and mistaken as a modified noun by 1670s; see HELPMATE (Cf. helpmate) …   Etymology dictionary

  • helpmeet — [help′mēt΄] n. [mistakenly read as a single word in “an help meet for him” (Gen. 2:18): see HELP & MEET2] HELPMATE …   English World dictionary

  • helpmate — (= helpmeet), noun he thanked his wife of twenty years for being his helpmate and best friend Syn: helper, assistant, attendant; supporter, friend, companion; spouse, partner, life partner, mate, husband, wife …   Thesaurus of popular words

  • helpmate — (also helpmeet) ► NOUN ▪ a helpful companion or partner. ORIGIN from an erroneous reading of a passage in the Book of Genesis (chapter 2), where Adam s future wife is described as ‘an help meet for him’ (i.e. a suitable helper for him) …   English terms dictionary

  • helpmate — [help′māt΄] n. [altered < HELPMEET] a helpful companion; specif., a wife or, sometimes, a husband …   English World dictionary

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