Other forms: assisted, assists, assisting
To assist is to help somebody with what they are doing. Assist the police, assisted by two others, assist with the lifting.
It implies the other person is leading and you are supporting, which help does not. In football and basketball an assist is the pass that sets up a score, and it is counted as a statistic. The Latin means to stand by.
1verbassistTo help somebody with what they are doing.
“Two nurses assisted the doctor during the operation.”
2nounpassThe pass that sets up a score.
“He didn't score, but he made the assist for the winning goal.”
assist is a helping.
Latin assistere means to stand by — ad, to, plus sistere, to stand.
Latin
assistō
Old French
assister
Middle English
assisten
English, today
assist
From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister, from Latin assistō. From Middle English assisten, from Old French assister (“to assist, to attend”), from Latin assistō (“stand at, bestand”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA