assistant

noun

as·​sis·​tant ə-ˈsi-stənt 

1

: a person who assists someone : helper

also : a person holding an assistantship

2

: a device or product that provides assistance

software assistants

personal digital assistant

assistant adjective

Synonyms of assistant

• aide
• apprentice
• deputy
• aid
• adjutant
• sidekick

Examples of assistant in a Sentence

an assistant to the college president

an assistant to the store manager

a wealthy executive who has a personal assistant

Recent Examples on the Web

Among those killed was former Pomona High School assistant basketball coach Clarence Nelson and his wife, Lisa, according to reporting by KTLA. — Seamus Bozeman, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026

The assistant secretary’s office is involved in decisions about funding next-generation vaccines against pandemic flu or other infectious disease threats. — Mike Stobbe, Fortune, 15 July 2026

Anthropic has found early success selling to enterprises, in large part due to its popular coding assistant, Claude Code. — Hugh Son,ashley Capoot, CNBC, 15 July 2026

The Warriors’ staff saw lead assistants Terry Stotts and Jerry Stackhouse depart this offseason in search of head coaching opportunities, while Chris DeMarco left midseason to take the New York Liberty job. — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 15 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English assistent, borrowed from Anglo-French assistant, assistent, noun derivative of assistant, assistent, adjective, "assisting, helpful," from present participle of assister "to help, aid" — more at assist entry 1

Note: In the case of both this word and assistance Modern English has chosen the French form with -a- in the suffix rather than Latin -e-.

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing assistant

• assistant professor
• personal digital assistant
• physician assistant
• physician's assistant
• sales assistant
• teaching assistant

Rhymes for assistant

• consistent
• existent
• insistent
• persistent
• resistant
• subsistent
• coexistent
• equidistant
• inconsistent
• nonexistent
• preexistent
• distant

Kids Definition

assistant

noun

as·​sis·​tant ə-ˈsis-tənt 

: a person who assists another : helper

assistant adjective