Adiutrix

Adiutrix is a Latin noun meaning female helper or assistant. It is the feminine form of adiutor, which itself comes from the verb adiuvare “to help.” The word belongs to the common Latin pattern in which a masculine agent noun is paired with a feminine counterpart to describe a woman who performs the same role.

In classical Latin, adiutrix described a woman who assists in various settings, including households, courts, or military or administrative contexts. Such a figure might be an attendant, slave, or freedwoman acting as an aide to a person of higher status, such as a patron, magistrate, or military commander. The term thus denotes practical aid and service rather than a formal office.

In later Latin, including late antiquity and the medieval period, adiutrix continues to appear as the feminine counterpart to adiutor in inscriptions and textual usage. The sense remains centered on assisting or attending to someone else, rather than leading or commanding.

Ecclesiastical Latin occasionally employs the word in religious contexts to refer to female assistants or helpers within communities, liturgical settings, or to clergy, again emphasizing service and support.

Today, adiutrix is primarily encountered in scholarly discussions of Latin vocabulary, philology, and historical texts. It is listed in dictionaries as the feminine form of adiutor, with the related terms adiutor and adiuvare noted for broader linguistic connections.