Other forms: helpers
A helper is somebody who assists another. A willing helper, need helpers, a classroom helper.
In schools and events it is the ordinary word for a volunteer: parent helper, kitchen helper. It is slightly informal, and assistant is the job title. Note home helper, an older British term for somebody providing domestic care; and that in Singapore and Hong Kong, helper is the standard word for a domestic worker, which is a formal category with its own visa rules and is not informal at all.
1nounhelperSomebody who assists another.
“The teacher chose a helper to hand out the books.”
helper is an assistant.
Old English helpere is help plus -er, both native. Help is Germanic and has no Latin equivalent in common English use, which is unusual for so basic a concept.
Proto-West Germanic
*helpārī — helper
Old English
*helpere
Middle English
helpere
English, today
helper
From Middle English helpere, from Old English helpere, from Proto-West Germanic helpārī (“helper”), equivalent to help + -er. Cognate with stq 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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA