harm

A2 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /hɑɹm/ UK /hɑːm/ See IPA manual

Freq #1763

Meanings

1

verb
To hurt or damage someone or something.

Too much sugar can harm your teeth.
2

noun
Injury or damage to a person or thing.

The medicine is safe and will cause no harm.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to hurt or damage someone... damage hurt injure

2 noun · injury or damage to a... damage injury

Opposites

heal repair

Word family

Forms harmedharmingharmsunharmed

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

irreparable harm
damage that cannot be repaired or put right

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (5)

See all

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”), Danish harme (“indignation, resentment”), Icelandic harmur (“sorrow, grief”), Swedish harm (“anger, indignation, harm”).

harm Middle English hearm Old English *harm Proto-West Germanic *harmaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# harm

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /hɑɹm/
**IPA (UK):** /hɑːm/
**Frequency rank:** 1763

## Meanings
1. To hurt or damage someone or something.
2. Injury or damage to a person or thing.

## Examples
- Too much sugar can harm your teeth.
- The medicine is safe and will cause no harm.

## Antonyms
- heal
- repair

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: harm
- Root: hearm
- Root: *harm
- Root: *harmaz

## 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”), Danish harme (“indignation, resentment”), Icelandic harmur (“sorrow, grief”), Swedish harm (“anger, indignation, harm”).

## AI Etymology
Harm comes 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”), Danish harme (“indignation, resentment”), Icelandic harmur (“sorrow, grief”), Swedish harm (“anger, indignation, harm”). In current use, the main senses are “To hurt or damage someone or something” and “Injury or damage to a person or thing”.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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