harm
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Harm
English
Alternative forms
- harme (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English harm, herm, from Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm, from Proto-Germanic *harmaz (“harm; shame; pain”). Cognate with Dutch harm (“harm”), German Harm (“harm”), Swedish harm (“anger, indignation, harm”), Icelandic harmur (“sorrow, grief”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɑːm/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /hɑɹm/
Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)m
Noun
harm (countable and uncountable, plural harms)
- Physical injury; hurt; damage.
- No harm came to my possessions.
- You can do a lot of harm to someone if you kick them in the teeth.
- Emotional or figurative hurt.
- Although not physically injured in the car accident, she received some psychological harm.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
- And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.
- Detriment; misfortune.
- I wish him no harm.
- That which causes injury, damage, or loss.
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms.
Usage notes
Collocations
Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, redressable, lasting, material, substantial.
Translations
injury; hurt; damage
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Verb
harm (third-person singular simple present harms, present participle harming, simple past and past participle harmed)
- To damage, hurt, or injure something, usually an inanimate object.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:harm
Usage notes
The verb harm is mostly used to describe metaphorical or inanimate victims. Rarely would one use a sentence such as .svg){kind=small}
He made me angry so I harmed him. when a more explicit action such as 
I hit him or even I hurt him will do.
Translations
cause damage
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Derived terms
(Terms derived from the noun or verb harm):
(Expressions derived from the noun or verb harm):
Anagrams
Icelandic
Noun
harm
Irish
Pronunciation
Noun
harm
- h-prothesized form of arm
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm.
Noun
harm (plural harms)
Descendants
References
- “harm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old Norse
Noun
harm
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.
Noun
harm m
Descendants
Swedish
Etymology
From Old Swedish harmber, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *harmaz. Cognate with English harm.
Noun
harm c
- angry indignation (at something considered unjust)
- (archaic) (physical or emotional) harm
Declension
| nominative | genitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | indefinite | harm | harms |
| definite | harmen | harmens | |
| plural | indefinite | — | — |
| definite | — | — |
References
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