helpmate

C2+ Topic:Family & Relationships

Also spelled help-mate

US /ˈhɛlpˌmeɪt/ UK /ˈhɛlpˌmeɪt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a companion and helper, especially a spouse

Through every hardship she remained his faithful helpmate.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a companion and helper,... companion partner spouse consort helper mate assistant

Word family

Related forms helpmeet help mate

Simplified etymology

Helpmate developed in the early 18th century from helpmeet, a late-17th-century expression based on the description of Eve in Genesis as "an help meet for" Adam. Here meet meant "suitable," but when that use became obscure, speakers replaced it with mate. The first element ultimately comes from Old English help.

Etymology

An alteration of helpmeet, itself a misreading of the biblical phrase 'an help meet for him' (Genesis 2:18), refashioned with mate ('companion').

help Old English mate Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# helpmate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈhɛlpˌmeɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈhɛlpˌmeɪt/

## Meanings
1. a companion and helper, especially a spouse

## Examples
- Through every hardship she remained his faithful helpmate.

## Synonyms
- companion
- partner
- spouse
- consort
- helper
- mate
- assistant

## Related Forms
- helpmeet
- help
- mate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: help
- Root: mate

## Etymology
An alteration of helpmeet, itself a misreading of the biblical phrase 'an help meet for him' (Genesis 2:18), refashioned with mate ('companion').

## AI Etymology
helpmate has the recorded history: An alteration of helpmeet, itself a misreading of the biblical phrase 'an help meet for him' (Genesis 2:18), refashioned with mate ('companion'). The form is also shaped by later English word-formation, since shortening, alteration, or polite substitution can be as important as direct inheritance. In present English, the noun sense is "a companion and helper, especially a spouse", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as helpmeet, help, and mate. Its semantic neighborhood includes companion, partner, spouse, and consort, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old English help and Middle English mate.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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