adiutus

Adiutus is a Latin term, the masculine nominative singular perfect passive participle of the verb adiuvare, meaning "helped" or "assisted." As a participle, it functions as an adjective and agrees with a noun in gender, number, and case; it may be used to indicate someone who has received help or to describe the aid provided.

Etymology and forms: The word derives from ad- "to" and iuvare "to help." The perfect passive participle is formed as adiutus; the feminine form is adiuta, the neuter adiutum; the plural forms are adiuti (masc), adiutae (fem), adiuta (neut). In classical Latin, adiutus may accompany a noun with esse or sum, or be used in a passive construction with an agent phrase such as ab (with the agent in the ablative).

Usage: Adiutus frequently appears in historical or narrative prose to denote past assistance. It can take a passive agent phrase: "Puer ab medico adiutus est" ("The boy was helped by a doctor"). It can also modify a noun in predicate position: "vir adiutus" ("the aided man" or more naturally "the man who has been aided") depending on context.

See also: adiuvare; participles and adjectives; Latin grammar: perfect passive participles.