助手
zhù shoǔ · HSK 5
assistant
🙋 助 (help) + 手 (hand) = helping hand = assistant
助 means 'help/assist' and 手 means 'hand'. A 'helping hand' is literally an assistant or helper. The compound 助手 stacks these two characters to name the role directly.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.