harm
See also: Harm
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- harme (obsolete)
Etymology edit
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 edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɑːm/
- (General American) IPA(key): /hɑɹm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)m
Noun edit
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, 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 edit
Collocations
Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, redressable, lasting, material, substantial.
Translations edit
injury; hurt; damage
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that which causes injury, damage, or loss
Verb edit
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.
- 2020 December 16, Yan Ming, “Awakening Moral Conscience”, in Minghui[1]:
- Will justice and conscience of society not be harmed if people avoid the truth?
Usage notes edit
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 edit
cause damage
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Derived terms edit
Terms derived from the noun or verb harm
Expressions derived from the noun or verb harm
Anagrams edit
Icelandic edit
Noun edit
harm
Irish edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
harm
- h-prothesized form of arm
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm.
Noun edit
harm (plural harms)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “harm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Old Norse edit
Noun edit
harm
Old Saxon edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.
Noun edit
harm m
Descendants edit
Swedish edit
Etymology edit
From Old Swedish harmber, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *harmaz. Cognate with English harm.
Noun edit
harm c
- angry indignation (at something considered unjust)
- (archaic) (physical or emotional) harm
Declension edit
| Declension of harm | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncountable | ||||
| Indefinite | Definite | |||
| Nominative | harm | harmen | — | — |
| Genitive | harms | harmens | — | — |