harm

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)

1. 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.

   No harm came to my possessions.

2. 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.

3. detriment; misfortune.

   I wish him no harm.

4. That which causes injury, damage, or loss.
   • William Shakespeare

     We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms.

Verb

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

1. To cause injury to another; to hurt; to cause damage to something.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Hmar, mahr

Noun

harm

1. indefinite accusative singular of harmur

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhaɾˠəmˠ/

Noun

harm

1. h-prothesized form of arm

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.

Noun

harm m

1. harm