Helostoma 
Helostoma (hf-los'to-rna), . [NL., < Gr. >//.u<;, 
a nail, + ar6fia, the month.] The typical genus 
of Helostontida', having a peculiar small mouth. 
helOStomid (he-los'to-mid). n. A fish of the 
family Helostoiitiilii: 
Helostomidse (hel-os-tom'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Helostoma + -/,'.] A family of acauthoptery- 
gian fishes, represented by the genus Helostnnin. 
The mouth is very small, and the teeth are confined to the 
lips and movable. In most other respects they agree with 
the Anabantiihc, and are generally associated with them 
in the same family. The llelovtutna tenmtincki inhabits 
the fresh waters of Java. 
Helot (he'lot or hel'ot), . [< L. Hefete.prop. Hi- 
lota; or IlohK, < Gr. E'i/.wra< or Ei/Uinf, pi. of Ei'/ti- 
rijf or Eujjf, a Helot; said to bo so named from 
"EA>f, a town of Sparta, whose inhabitants were 
enslaved, but more prob. from the pass, of eteiv, 
-A aor. associated with pres. alpeiv, take.] 1. 
One of a class of serfs among the ancient Spar- 
tans who were owned by the state, were bound 
to the soil under allotment to landholders, and 
fulfilled all servile functions. The Helots paid 
then- masters a fixed proportion of the products of the 
ground cultivated by them. They served as light-armed 
troops in war, and in great emergencies bodies of them 
were organized as regular or heavy-aimed troops, in which 
case they might be manumitted as a reward for bravery. 
They were descendants of captives of war, most of them 
probably of the conquered Achean aborigines of Laconia ; 
and they were very cruelly treated, and often systemati- 
cally massacred, to keep down their numbers and prevent 
them from organized revolt. 
The old Spartans had a wiser method, and went out and 
hunted down their Helots, and speared and spitted them, 
when they grew too numerous. 
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, iii. 4. 
Hence 2. [cap. or 1. c.~\ A serf or slave, in 
general ; a servile person ; one subject to the 
orders and caprices of another. 
Those unfortunates, the Helots of mankind, more or less 
numerous in every community. /s. Taylor. 
helotage (he'lot-aj or hel'ot-aj), n. [< helot + 
-age.'} The state or condition of being a helot ; 
serfage. Carlyle. 
Helotia (he-lo'ti-a), . pi. [NL., < Helptium.] 
A family of discomycetous fungi, including, ac- 
cording to Bond, the groups Ciboria and Heloti. 
Helotici (he-lot'i-sl), u. pi. [NL., < Helotium.] 
Same as Pileolares. 
helotism (he'lot-izm or hel'ot-izm), n. [< He- 
lot + ism.'] 1. The system of serfage main- 
tained at Sparta, or one resembling it. See He- 
lot, 1. 2. The condition of the Helots or Spar- 
tan serfs, or of helots in the extended sense; 
servile bondage. 
Helotium (he-16'ti-um), n. [NL., perhaps < Gr. 
?}/U>rof, nail-shaped, < rj/.oc,, a nail.] A genus of 
discomycetous fungi, type of the Helotia. The 
disk is always open, at first punctiform, then dilated, con- 
vex or concave, and naked ; the excipulum is waxy, free, 
and externally naked. 
helotry (he'lot-ri or hel'ot-ri), n. [< Helot + 
-ry.~\ 1. The condition "of a Helot; serfdom; 
slavery. 2. Helots in a collective sense ; a 
body of persons in a condition similar to that 
of the ancient Helots. 
The Helotry of Mammon are not, in our day, so easily 
enforced to content themselves as the peasantry of that 
happy period, as Mr. Southey considers it, which elapsed 
between the fall of the feudal and the rise of commercial 
tyranny. Macaulay, Southey's Colloquies. 
help (help), c. ; pret. and pp. helped (formerly 
holp and holpen), ppr. helping. [< ME. helpen 
(pret. halp, pi. holpen, pp. holpen, holpe), < AS. 
helpan (pret. healp, pi. hnlpon, pp. holpen) = OS. 
helpan = OFries. helpa = D. MLG. LG. helpen 
= OHG. helfan, MHG. G. helfen = Icel. hjalpu 
=. Sw. hjelpa = Dan. hjajlpe = Goth, hilpan, help. 
Connection with Lith. szelpti, help, is uncer- 
tain.] I. trans. 1. To furnish aid to ; contrib- 
ute strength or means to ; assist in doing, ac- 
complishing, or attaining any thing; assist; aid: 
as, to help a man in his work; to help one out 
of difficulties. See to help to, below. 
But evere more God of his grace halp us. 
Maiuleville, Travels, p. 284. 
Treuthe tauhte me ones to louen hem vchone, 
And helpen hem of alle thyng aftur that hem ueodeth. 
Piers Plowman (A), vii. 198. 
Help thyself, and God will help thee. 
G. Herbert, Jacula Prudentum. 
2. To bring succor or relief to ; relieve ; rescue. 
This helpeth whete 
From Auntes and fro myse. 
Palladiut, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.\ p. 158. 
Help me, Cassius, or I sink ! Shak., J. C., i. 2. 
My son . . . hath a dumb spirit ; ... but if thou canst 
do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. 
Mark ix. 22. 
Help us from famine 
And plague and strife ! 
Tennyson, The Victim. 
2783 
3. To mitigate, as pain or disease; heal, relieve, 
or comfort, as a person in pain or distress. 
Ande also it is ordeynede, yat if eny brother or sister 
falle in pouert, thnrghe aueuture of ye werlde, his state 
shal bene holpen of euery brother and sister of ye gilde. 
English GiMs (E. E. T. S.), p. 20. 
The true calamus helps a cough. Gerarde. 
Do wounds help wounds, or grief help grievous deeds? 
Shak., Lucrece, 1. 1822. 
But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that Honour 
feels. TennytuH, Locksley Hall. 
4. To mend; repair. [Prov. Eng.] 5. To 
change for the better ; remedy : as, he cannot 
help his deformity. 
Let them [words] have scope : though what they do impart 
Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart. 
Shak., Rich. III., iv. 4. 
helpful 
II. intrants. 1. To lend aid; be of use; avail. 
To helpe, ne hurte, my wille is not applied ; 
Who trowithe me not, I lete it passe a-way. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 66. 
To euery crafte of man's helpe 
He had a redy witte to helpe 
Through naturall experience. 
Gower, Coiit. Amant., v. 
2. To serve or distribute food, as at table. 
The host sat behind the haunch of mutton, and helped 
with zeal ; the guests took the ducks, the turkey, the hare, 
and the fowls, and did their part. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 121. 
A helping hand. See hand. To help out, to lend aid. 
Some, wanting the talent to write, made it their care 
that the actors should help out where the Muses failed. 
Rymer. 
If I be, either by disposition or what other cause, too in- help (help), . [< ME. help, < AS. help = OS. 
quisitive, or suspitious of my self and mine own doings, helpa = OFries. lielpc = D. huh) = MLG. halve 
who can help it? Milton, Church-Government, Pref., ii. _ QHG. helfa, hilfu, MHG. helfe, hilfe, G. hilfe 
For helping of this, it was propounded, that such as Tpcl 7/i/n Sw hirl Ttan lii/nln holn 
dwelt there should pay six-pence the acre, yearly, for such Z n , f tj, '^.yTn , {'' 
lands as lay within a mile of the water. Irom the verb.J 1. Assistance ; aid given to- 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 234. ward doing, accomplishing, or attaining any- 
Let nothing provoke you to fall upon an imperfection tltm g, as labor, escape from danger or difficulty, 
he cannot help. Steele, Tatler, No. 85. discharge of obligations, etc. 
6. To prevent; avoid; forbear; keep or re- 
frain from : with can or cannot. 
A man who values a good night's rest will not lie down 
with enmity in his heart, if he can help it. 
Sterne, Sentimental Journey, p. 95. 
True, madam ; notwithstanding his vices, one cant help 
feeling for him. Sheridan, School for Scandal, i. 1. 
Your teasing daughter, who will never let you alone ; 
who, when you go into your room, cannot help running 
to seek for you. Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xxv. 
7. To increase ; aggravate. [Rare.] 
Their armour helped their harm, crush'd in and bruised 
Into their substance pent. Milton, P. L., vi. 656. 
8. To aid in going, removing, getting, etc.: , , ,. _ - 
with ellipsis of to no, to yet, etc. : as, help me ? ublect to plentie of Snakes, which without helpe kill in 
:_ "uTriT^-i fy. .",_!* t , foure and twentie houres. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 842. 
Poor Corydon 
Must live alone ; 
Other help for him I see that there is none. 
Shak., Pass. Pilgrim, xvili. 54. 
3. A source of aid, relief, or succor; a helper. 
I will make him an help meet for him. Gen. 11. 18. 
God is ... a very present help in trouble. Ps. xlvi. 1. 
You who now glory In the name of Believers and are 
hitherto as forward as any in the profession of Christian 
ity, do not think your selves to be above the need of any 
helps to confirm your faith. Stilling fleet, Sermons, II. iii. 
Virtue is a friend and a help to nature. South, Sermons. 
The ladies [Dryden's characters] seem to have been ex- 
pressly created to form helps meet for such gentlemen. 
Macaulay, Dryden. 
Hence 4. An assistant; a hired laborer or 
servant; especially, a domestic or household 
In auncion tyme of antiquite 
Men called goddis to theire helpe and ayd. 
Rom. o/Partenay (E. E. T. S.), Int., L 22. 
By the helpe and assistance of their counsels, the order 
of the gouernement, and conduction of the shippes iu the 
whole voyage might be the better. 
Hakluyt's Voyage:;, I. 246. 
Embrace, and invite helps, and advices, touching the 
execution of thy place. Bacon. 
2. Remedy; relief; succor; means of deliver- 
ance : as, failure is inevitable, there is no help 
for it. 
Our help is in the name of the Lord. Ps. cxxiv. 8. 
The fields, woods, houses, beds, boots [in Brazil], are 
in (that is, help me to go in) ; help me off my 
horse. 
By foul play, as thou say'st, were we heav'd thence ; 
But blessedly holp hither. Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 
[The verb help may have an infinitive after it without the 
usual to. 
William Pitt, . . . having drunk a bottle of port-wine 
at his own house, would go into Bellamy's with Dundas, 
and help finish a couple more. 
Thackeray, Four Georges, p. 116. 
I would fain stay and help thee tend him. 
M. Arnold, Empedocles on Etna. 
Should we lend him the moral support of our agreement, 
and thus help him hold his own against the forces he has 
to face ? 
Times (London), quoted in N. and Q., 7th ser., V. 108.] 
9. To give out in portions. 
She sat down at the head of the table, and began silent- 
ly helping the hot milk. Vcrnon Lee, Miss Brown. 
servant; collectively, servants or assistants 
God help him (her, you, thee), a phrase used to express the supply of workers. [U. S., originally and 
E3p ^" g Per8 n concerned .s beyond the stm cfa ^ New Enl L n - 
Now God help thee, poor monkey ! But how wilt thou 
do for a father? Shak., Macbeth, iv. 2. 
She says 
(God help her) she was wedded to a fool. 
Tennyson, Princess, iii. 
So help me, a minced oath : for so help me God. [Colloq. ] 
So help me God, may God help or save me as I speak 
the truth : a solemn asseveration used in taking an oath. 
Other formulas of similar import are found in use. 
And for the! sworen bi heore soule "go God hem moste 
helpe!" 
Ajeyn heore clene concience heore catel to sulle. 
Piers Plowman (A), viii. 24. 
I say no more than truth, so help me God ! 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., Iii. 1. 
To help forward, to assist in making progress. 
I will hide nothing from you that I can remember, and 
can think may help you forward towards a perfection in 
this art. /. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 181. 
To help Off, to aid in disposing or getting rid of. 
Having never learned any laudable manual art, they have 
recourse to those foolish or ill ways in use to help off their 
time. Locke. 
Strange ! how the frequent interjected dash 
Quickens a market, and helps off the trash. 
Camper, Charity, 1. 522. 
To help on, to forward ; further. To help out, to aid 
in delivering from trouble, In completing a task, In eking 
out a supply, or the like. 
The god of learning and of light 
Would want a god himself to help him out. Swift. 
still chiefly in New England.] 
The Boston help reads Dante while she prepares the 
succulent pork and beans. 
New Eng. Jour, o/ Education, XVII. 54. 
The fewness and dearness of servants [in the New Eng- 
land colony] made it necessary to call in temporary assis- 
tance lor extraordinary occasions, and hence arose the 
common use of the word help. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 1st ser., p. 263. 
help-ale (help'al), . A festivity among the 
English peasantry marking the completion of 
work done by the help of neighbors, as in hay- 
making. 
helper (hel'per), u. [< ME. helpere (- OFries. 
helpere, hilpcre = D. helper = MLG. hulper = 
OHG. helfari, helj'are, helfari, MHG. helfaire, 
G. heifer = Icel. Jijdlpari = Sw. hielpare = Dan. 
hjflper) ; < help, v., + -erl.] 1. One who helps, 
aids, or assists; an auxiliary; one who affords 
assistance, comfort, or remedy. 
Woman being created for man's sake to be his helper. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, v. 73. 
There was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper 
for Israel. 2 Ki. xiv. 28. 
Fellow-labourers in the same vineyard, not lording over 
their rights, but helpers of their joy. 
Burke, Economical Reform. 
2. Specifically, one who is employed as assis- 
tant to another in doing some kind of work: as, 
a blacksmith's or a groom's helper. 
T ? hel . P . V f r ' t J !nable to surmount: as, to help one helpfellowt (help'fel'6), . [< help + fellow. 
over a difficulty. To help to, to assist in obtaining ; sup- 
ply or serve with : as, to help one to meat at table. 
Is this a dinner? this a genial room? . . . 
In plenty starving, tantalized in state, 
And eomplaisantly help'd to all I hate. 
Pope, Moral Essays, iv. 164. 
To help up, to raise ; support. 
A man is well holp up that trusts to you. 
Shak., C. of E., Iv. 1. 
" We shall be finely helped up here," said Michael Lam- 
bourne, looking at the gateway and gate. 
Scott, Kenilworth, Iii. 
Cf. helpmate.'] A colleague; a partner or an 
associate; a mate. 
Therfore we taried still alone at Athenes, and from 
thence sente Tymothe our brother, a tryed minister of 
God, and an hefpeffllowe of our office. 
J. Udall, On 1 Thee. iii. 
helpful (help'ful), a. [< ME. helpful; < help 
+ -ful.] Furnishing help; serviceable; use- 
ful; beneficial. 
I schal be helpful, or mercyful, to the wickldnease of 
hem. Wyclif, Heb. viii. 12 (Oxf.). 
