harm

English Online Dictionary. What means harm‎? What does harm mean?

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/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɑɹm/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)m

Noun

harm (countable and uncountable, plural harms)

1. Physical injury; hurt; damage.

2. Emotional or figurative hurt.
3. Detriment; misfortune.

4. That which causes injury, damage, or loss.

Usage notes

Translations

Verb

harm (third-person singular simple present harms, present participle harming, simple past and past participle harmed)

1. 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  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

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Hmar, mahr

Icelandic

Noun

harm

1. indefinite accusative singular of harmur

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaɾˠəmˠ/

Noun

harm

1. h-prothesized form of arm

Middle English

Alternative forms

• harem, arme, herme

Etymology

From Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm.

Noun

harm (plural harms)

1. harm, injury, ruination

Descendants

• English: harm
• Scots: herm, hairm
• Yola: harrm

References

• “harm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Norse

Noun

harm

1. accusative singular of harmr

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.

Noun

harm m

1. harm

Descendants

• Middle Low German: harm, herm

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish harmber, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *harmaz. Cognate with English harm.

Noun

harm c

1. angry indignation (at something considered unjust)
2. (archaic) (physical or emotional) harm

Declension

References

• harm in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• harm in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• harm in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)