different between help vs ease
help
- For help with Wiktionary, see Help:Contents.
English
Pronunciation
- enPR: h?lp, IPA(key): /h?lp/
- Rhymes: -?lp
Etymology 1
From Middle English help, from Old English help (“help, aid, assistance, relief”), from Proto-Germanic *help? (“help”), *hilpiz, *hulpiz, from Proto-Indo-European *?elb-, *?elp- (“to help”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälpe (“help”), West Frisian help (“help”), Dutch hulp (“help”), Low German Hülp (“help”), German Hilfe (“help, aid, assistance”), Danish hjælp (“help”), Swedish hjälp (“help”), Norwegian hjelp (“help”).
Noun
help (usually uncountable, plural helps)
- (uncountable) Action given to provide assistance; aid.
- (usually uncountable) Something or someone which provides assistance with a task.
- Documentation provided with computer software, etc. and accessed using the computer.
- (usually uncountable) One or more people employed to help in the maintenance of a house or the operation of a farm or enterprise.
- (uncountable) Correction of deficits, as by psychological counseling or medication or social support or remedial training.
Usage notes
- The sense “people employed to help in the maintenance of a house” is usually an uncountable mass noun. A countable form - “a hired help”, “two hired helps” - is attested, but now less common. Helper could be used if no more specific noun is available.
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:help.
Synonyms
- (action given to provide assistance): aid, assistance
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English helpen, from Old English helpan (“to help, aid, assist, benefit, relieve, cure”), from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, Proto-Germanic *helpan? (“to help”), from Proto-Indo-European *?elb-, *?elp- (“to help”).
Cognate with West Frisian helpe (“to help”), Dutch helpen (“to help”), Low German helpen, hölpen (“to help”), German helfen (“to help”), Danish hjælpe (“to help”), Norwegian hjelpe (“to help”), Lithuanian šelpti (“to help, support”).
Verb
help (third-person singular simple present helps, present participle helping, simple past helped or (archaic) holp, past participle helped or (archaic) holpen)
- (transitive) To provide assistance to (someone or something).
- (transitive) To assist (a person) in getting something, especially food or drink at table; used with to.
- (transitive) To contribute in some way to.
- (intransitive) To provide assistance.
- (transitive) To avoid; to prevent; to refrain from; to restrain (oneself). Usually used in nonassertive contexts with can.
Usage notes
- Use 4 is often used in the imperative mood as a call for assistance.
- In uses 1, 2, 3 and 4, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. It can also take the bare infinitive with no change in meaning.
- In use 5, can't help is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing) or, with but, the bare infinitive.
- For more information, see Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
- (provide assistance to): aid, assist, come to the aid of, help out; See also Thesaurus:help
- (contribute in some way to): contribute to
- (provide assistance): assist; See also Thesaurus:assist
Derived terms
Translations
Interjection
help!
- A cry of distress or an urgent request for assistance
- (Robin Hood (1973))
Translations
Anagrams
- Pehl
Afrikaans
Etymology
From Dutch helpen, from Middle Dutch helpen, from Old Dutch helpan, from Proto-West Germanic *helpan, from Proto-Germanic *helpan?.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /???lp/
Verb
help (present help, present participle helpende, past participle gehelp)
- to help
Dutch
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -?lp
Verb
help
- first-person singular present indicative of helpen
- imperative of helpen
Esperanto
Etymology
From the bare root of helpi, following the model of English help! considered as internationally understood.
Interjection
help
- Help! (as a cry of distress)
Old English
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *help?.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /xelp/, [he?p]
Noun
help f
- help
Descendants
- Middle English: help
- English: help
- Scots: help
References
- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) , “help”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Old Norse
Verb
help
- first-person singular present indicative active of hjalpa
Welsh
Etymology
Borrowed from English help.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /h?lp/
Noun
help m (uncountable, not mutable)
- help, aid
- Synonyms: cymorth, cynhorthwy
Derived terms
- help llaw (“a helping hand”)
- helpu (“to help”)
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian helpe, from Proto-Germanic *help?.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /h?lp/
Noun
help c (plural helpen, diminutive helpke)
- help, assistance, aid
- Synonyms: assistinsje, bystân
Further reading
- “help (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
help From the web:
- what helps with nausea
- what helps with constipation
- what helps with cramps
- what helps heartburn
- what helps a sore throat
- what helps with bloating
- what helps acid reflux
- what helps with headaches
ease
English
Etymology
From Middle English ese, ays, etc., from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise and aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Cognate with Provencal ais, Italian agio and asio, and Portuguese azo. Sometimes ascribed to Latin *asia or *asium, possibly from ansa (“handle; occasion”) but more likely from a Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), from Latin adjac?ns, present participle of adjace?. Alternatively, possibly from a non-Latin source such as Germanic or Celtic on the basis of the conflicting forms which appear in various Romance languages. Compare Old English ?eþe (“easy”), Gothic ???????????????????? (az?ti, “ease; pleasure”), *???????????????????? (*az?ts, “easy”), Breton eaz, ez (“easy”), Irish adhais (“easy; leisure”). Compare also Frankish *ansiju (“loophole, eyelet; handle, arms akimbo, elbow room”). See also eath.
The verb is from Middle English esen, ultimately of the same origin.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /i?z/
- (US) enPR: ?z, IPA(key): /iz/,
- Rhymes: -i?z
- Homophones: ees, E's, 'e's
Noun
ease (uncountable)
- Ability, the means to do something, particularly:
- (obsolete) Opportunity, chance.
- a. 1200, Ancrene Riwle (Cleopatra MS C.vi), p. 213:
- ...?ef þer is eise to fulle þe dede...
- a. 1200, Ancrene Riwle (Cleopatra MS C.vi), p. 213:
- Skill, dexterity, facility.
- (obsolete) Opportunity, chance.
- Comfort, a state or quality lacking unpleasantness, particularly:
- Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth.
- Freedom from worry and concern; peace; sometimes (derogatory, archaic) indifference.
- Freedom from difficulty.
- Freedom from effort, leisure, rest.
- Freedom from financial effort or worry; affluence.
- Freedom from embarrassment or awkwardness; grace.
- Freedom from pain, hardship, and annoyance, sometimes (derogatory, archaic) idleness, sloth.
- Relief, an end to discomfort, particularly:
- Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance.
- (euphemistic, obsolete) Release from intestinal discomfort: defecation.
- Release from constraint, obligation, or a constrained position.
- (clothing) Additional space provided to allow greater movement.
- Followed by of or from: release from or reduction of pain, hardship, or annoyance.
- (obsolete) A convenience; a luxury.
- (obsolete) A relief; an easement.
Synonyms
- (ability): ability, dexterity, facility, skill
- (comfort): comfort, peace
- (freedom from worry): peace of mind
- (freedom from effort): free time, leisure, relaxation, rest
Derived terms
Related terms
- easy, easiness
Translations
Verb
ease (third-person singular simple present eases, present participle easing, simple past and past participle eased)
- (transitive) To free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc.
- Elyse Saugstad, a professional skier, wore a backpack equipped with an air bag, a relatively new and expensive part of the arsenal that backcountry users increasingly carry to ease their minds and increase survival odds in case of an avalanche.
- (transitive) To alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain).
- (transitive) To give respite to (someone).
- (nautical, transitive) To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.
- (transitive) To reduce the difficulty of (something).
- (transitive) To move (something) slowly and carefully.
- (intransitive) To lessen in severity.
- (intransitive) To proceed with little effort.
Synonyms
- (free (something) from pain, worry, agitation, etc): assuage, salve
- (alleviate, assuage or lessen (pain)): allay, alleviate, assuage, lessen, reduce
- (give respite to (someone)): give someone a break (informal), lay off (informal)
- (loosen or slacken the tension on (something)): loosen, relax, slacken
- (reduce the difficulty of (something)): facilitate, simplify
- (lessen in severity): lessen, reduce
- (proceed with little effort): cruise
Translations
References
Middle English
Noun
ease (plural eases)
- Alternative spelling of ese
ease From the web:
- what eases period cramps
- what eases nausea
- what eases stomach pain
- what eases constipation
- what ease means
- what causes heartburn
- what eases arthritis pain
- what eases anxiety
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