harm
See also: Harm
English
Etymology
From Middle English harm, herm, from Old English hearm, from Proto-Germanic *harmaz (“harm; shame; pain”).
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /hɑɹm/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /hɑːm/
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 balls. Especially if they get revenge and bring out a bazooka and blast your head off.
- emotional or figurative hurt
- Although not physically injured in the car accident, she received some psychological harm.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 13, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- 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.
- William Shakespeare
- We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms.
- William Shakespeare
Usage notes
- Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, 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 cause injury to another; to hurt; to cause damage to something.
Translations
cause damage
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Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun or verb harm
Icelandic
Old Saxon
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.
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