different between relieve vs help
relieve
English
Etymology
From Old French relever, specifically from the conjugated forms such as (jeo) relieve (“I lift up”), and its source, Latin relevo (“to lift up, lighten, relieve, alleviate”), combined form of re- (“back”) + levo (“to lift”). Compare levant, levity, etc.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /???li?v/
- Rhymes: -i?v
Verb
relieve (third-person singular simple present relieves, present participle relieving, simple past and past participle relieved)
- (transitive) To ease (a person, person's thoughts etc.) from mental distress; to stop (someone) feeling anxious or worried, to alleviate the distress of. [from 14th c.]
- (transitive) To ease (someone, a part of the body etc.) or give relief from physical pain or discomfort. [from 14th c.]
- (transitive) To alleviate (pain, distress, mental discomfort etc.). [from 14th c.]
- (transitive) To provide comfort or assistance to (someone in need, especially in poverty). [from 14th c.]
- (obsolete) To lift up; to raise again. [15th-17th c.]
- (now rare) To raise (someone) out of danger or from (a specified difficulty etc.). [from 15th c.]
- (law) To free (someone) from debt or legal obligations; to give legal relief to. [from 15th c.]
- This shall not relieve either Party of any obligations.
- To bring military help to (a besieged town); to lift the siege on. [from 16th c.]
- To release (someone) from or of a difficulty, unwanted task, responsibility etc. [from 16th c.]
- (military, job) To free (someone) from their post, task etc. by taking their place. [from 16th c.]
- (now rare) To make (something) stand out; to make prominent, bring into relief. [from 18th c.]
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.76:
- The henna should be deeply dyed to make / The skin relieved appear more fairly fair […]
- 1927, Countee Cullen, From the Dark Tower:
- The night whose sable breast relieves the stark / White stars is no less lovely being dark
- 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, III.76:
- (reflexive) To go to the toilet; to defecate or urinate. [from 20th c.]
Synonyms
- (to alleviate pain, ease): liss
Derived terms
- relieve oneself
Related terms
Translations
Further reading
- relieve in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- relieve in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /re?ljebe/, [re?lje.??e]
Noun
relieve m (plural relieves)
- relief (protrusion)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “relieve” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.
relieve From the web:
- what relieves heartburn
- what relieves constipation
- what relieves bloating
- what relieves gas
- what relieves sinus pressure
- what relieves nausea
- what relieves stress
- what relieves headaches
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
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