Portions of food served to one person at a meal.
From 'help' (Old English 'helpan,' to provide assistance or support) plus '-ing' (a suffix forming nouns). The connection is that serving food helps or supports someone—originally 'a helping' meant 'an amount that helps sustain you.'
The word 'helping' is a gentle way to describe food portions—it comes from the idea that food 'helps' you, so a helping is literally 'an amount that helps' your body and energy!
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