A helpful companion or partner, especially a spouse who helps and supports; someone who works alongside another as an assistant.
From 'help' plus 'mate' (companion). This term was popularized in the 17th century, partly influenced by the Biblical phrase 'help meet for him' describing Adam's partner Eve, which was then reinterpreted as a single compound.
The word 'helpmate' is interesting because it came from a mistranslation or reinterpretation of 'help meet' in the King James Bible—a grammatical mishap that created a brand new English word that stuck around.
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