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assistant

[ uh-sis-tuhnt ]
/ əˈsɪs tənt /
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See synonyms for: assistant / assistants on Thesaurus.com

noun
a person who assists or gives aid and support; helper.
a person who is subordinate to another in rank, function, etc.; one holding a secondary rank in an office or post: He was assistant to the office manager.
something that aids and supplements another.
a faculty member of a college or university who ranks below an instructor and whose responsibilities usually include grading papers, supervising laboratories, and assisting in teaching.
adjective
assisting; helpful.
serving in an immediately subordinate position; of secondary rank: an assistant coach.
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Origin of assistant

1400–50; late Middle English assistent<Latin assistent- (stem of assistēns, present participle of assistere to assist); see -ent, -ant

OTHER WORDS FROM assistant

non·as·sis·tant, nounun·as·sist·ant, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH assistant

assistance, assistants
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use assistant in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for assistant

assistant
/ (əˈsɪstənt) /

noun
  1. a person who assists, esp in a subordinate position
  2. (as modifier)assistant manager
adjective
archaic helpful or useful as an aid
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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