different between helper vs hireling

English

Etymology

From Middle English helpere, from Old English *helpere, from Proto-West Germanic *help?r? (“helper”), equivalent to help +? -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälper (“helper”), West Frisian helper (“helper”), Dutch helper (“helper”), German Low German Helper (“helper”), German Helfer (“helper”), Danish hjælper (“helper”), Swedish hjälpare (“helper”), Icelandic hjálpar (“helper”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?h?lp?/

Noun

helper (plural helpers)

1. One who helps; an aide; assistant; auxiliary.
2. That which helps; anything serving to assist.
   • 2005, PC World (volume 23, page 158)

     While Adobe's Acrobat Reader, Macromedia's Flash player, and other common plug-ins suggest themselves the moment you encounter a site that requires them, other browser helpers are harder to find.

   • 2012, Jude Deveraux, The Mulberry Tree (page 84)

     He no longer liked food that had “helper” in the name, such as Hamburger Helper and Tuna Helper. Patsy said he'd become uppity, and maybe, when it came to food, he had.

   • 2014, Neale Blackwood, Advanced Excel Reporting for Management Accountants (page 154)

     If a particular calculation is to be used a few times, it makes sense to put it in a helper cell so that it can be referred to by other formulas.

3. (Singapore) A person who does cleaning and cooking in a family home, or in a market; domestic employee.
4. (rail transport, US) a locomotive that assists a train, usually on steep gradients.

Synonyms

• banker (locomotive)

Translations

Anagrams

• Hepler

Cebuano

Etymology

From English helper.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hel?per

Noun

helper

1. a maid; a servant or cleaner
2. an aide

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch helpere. Equivalent to helpen +? -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???l.p?r/
• Hyphenation: hel?per

Noun

helper m (plural helpers, diminutive helpertje n)

1. One who helps, gives aid; deputy, assistant, aide, flunky

   Synonyms: assistent, hulp

English

Etymology

From Middle English hirlyng, from Old English h?rling (“hireling, employee”), from Proto-West Germanic *h??ijuling. Cognate with West Frisian hierling, Dutch huurling (“hireling, mercenary”), German Low German Hüürling,German Heuerling.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?ha?.?.l??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?ha???l??/

Noun

hireling (plural hirelings)

1. (usually derogatory) An employee who is hired, often to perform unpleasant tasks with little independence.
   • 1611, King James Version, Job 7:1:

     Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?

   • 1848: William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 19:

     When my poor James was in the smallpox, did I allow any hireling to nurse him?

2. (usually derogatory) Someone who does a job purely for money, rather than out of interest in the work itself.
   • 1605: Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning

     ... it may be truly affirmed that no kind of men love business for itself but those that are learned; for other persons love it for profit, as a hireling that loves the work for the wages;

   • 1821, Lord Byron, Sardanapalus, Act II, sc. 1:

     These vain bickerings

     Are spawn'd in courts by base intrigues and baser

     Hirelings, who live by lies on good men's lives.

3. A horse for hire.
   • 1934, Evelyn Waugh, A Handful of Dust, Chapter 3, Section 5:

     In the afternoon they went to a neighbouring livery stables to look for hirellings.

4. (obsolete) A prostitute.

Synonyms

• flunky
• lackey
• mercenary

Translations

See also

• underling