Dictionary

helpmeet en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhɛlpmiːt/

Etymology

Univerbation of part of a phrase in Genesis 2:18 in the King James Version: “an helpe meet” for Adam (i.e. a helper suitable for him) (help + meet).

Meanings

1. A helpful partner, particularly a spouse.
   • [on vocabulary errors] … and helpmates for meet-helps—the difference of the meaning of the two words is so obvious, that it is surprising it should have escaped attention.—A person may be a helpmate and at the same time be very far from being a help-meet, which is here intended. 1839, The Friend's Intelligencer, volume 1, number 24, Eighth month 1st, 1839, article Friend's Discipline, pages 456–457
   • When he went to Deborah and told her that the Lord had led him to ask her to be his wife, his holy helpmeet, she looked at him for a moment in what seemed to be speechless terror. 1953, James Baldwin, “Gabriel's Prayer”, in Go Tell It on the Mountain (Penguin Classics), London: Penguin Books, published 2001, →ISBN:

Forms

Synonyms

partner · other half · mate · spousy · helpmate · spouse · consort · better half · helpmate · helpmeet · wedder