ajudador

Ajudador is a noun used in Portuguese to designate a person who provides assistance or helps others. The term is formed from the verb ajudar, meaning to help, with the agent-noun suffix -dor. The feminine form is ajudadora, and the plural forms are ajudadores and ajudadoras, depending on gender.

Usage of the word is relatively uncommon in everyday Brazilian and European Portuguese, where more common equivalents include ajudante, assistente, and colaborador. Ajudador tends to appear in formal, technical, or historical texts, or in compound expressions such as ajudador voluntário (volunteer helper) or ajudador comunitário (community helper). In many contexts, speakers prefer more everyday terms for clear communication, but ajudador can convey a specific role emphasizing the act of aiding.

In related languages, cognates exist with similar meanings. In Spanish, ayudador is rare and often replaced by ayudante or asistente, while in English the closest equivalents are helper or assistant. The notion of an ajudador can also appear in organizational or institutional nomenclature when a formal title is desired to stress the supportive function.

Overall, ajudador denotes a person who provides aid across various settings, ranging from social and educational work to disaster relief, though its use is more constrained by context and audience than other, more common terms.