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Wiktionary

harm

See also: Harm

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Noun

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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 teeth.
  2. 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.
  3. Detriment; misfortune.
    I wish him no harm.
  4. That which causes injury, damage, or loss.

Usage notes

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Collocations

Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, redressable, lasting, material, substantial.

Translations

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Verb

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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
    • 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

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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

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Derived terms

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Terms derived from the noun or verb harm
Expressions derived from the noun or verb harm

Anagrams

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Icelandic

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Noun

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harm

  1. indefinite accusative singular of harmur

Irish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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harm

  1. h-prothesized form of arm

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Noun

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harm (plural harms)

  1. harm, injury, ruination

Descendants

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

References

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Old Norse

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Noun

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harm

  1. accusative singular of harmr

Old Saxon

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.

Noun

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harm m

  1. harm

Descendants

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Swedish

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Etymology

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

Noun

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harm c

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

Declension

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Declension of harm
nominative genitive
singular indefinite harm harms
definite harmen harmens
plural indefinite — —
definite — —

References

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