harm

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harm

/hɑːm/ UK
/hɑɹm/ Canada, US
/hɐːm/ Australia, New Zealand

Rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)m

Where it comes from

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”).

noun harms · harme

countable, uncountable Physical injury; hurt; damage. No harm came to my possessions.
countable, uncountable Emotional or figurative hurt. Although not physically injured in the car accident, she received some psychological harm.
countable, uncountable Detriment; misfortune. I wish him no harm.
countable, uncountable That which causes injury, damage, or loss. We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms.

verb harms · harming · harmed · harme

To damage, hurt, or injure something, usually an inanimate object. Will justice and conscience of society not be harmed if people avoid the truth?
Similar: abuse, annoy, bewound, damage, damnify, dere, do damage to, do for, do ill, do violence to, forwork, grieve

Opposite: heal, repair

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: damage, scathe, hurt, trauma, injury, impairment, tort, scourge, afflict, injure, pain, damaged, hurting, detriment, damaging, maim

verb

Opposite: heal, repair

Translations

Every language

noun injury; hurt; damage

Español	daño
한국어	해 hae
中文	損害 /损害 sǔnhài
हिन्दी	चोट coṭ, घाव ghāv, अपकार apkār
Português	dano, mal
Français	mal, tort, dommage
Deutsch	Schaden
Italiano	danno, male, ferita
Ελληνικά	βλάβη vlávi
Русский	вред vred, уще́рб uščérb, поврежде́ние povreždénije
Tiếng Việt	hại
العربية	ضَرَر ḍarar
עברית	נזק nézek

noun that which causes injury, damage, or loss

Português	mal
Italiano	danno, svantaggio

verb cause damage

Español	dañar
한국어	해치다 haechida
日本語	害する gai-suru, そこなう sokonau, 痛める ita-meru
中文	損害 /损害 sǔnhài
Português	ferir, fazer mal, afligir, machucar
Français	nuire à, faire du mal à
Deutsch	schaden
Italiano	danneggiare, ferire, far male, nuocere
Ελληνικά	βλάπτω vlápto
Română	vătăma, strica, dăuna
Русский	вреди́ть vredítʹ, повреди́ть povredítʹ, навреди́ть navredítʹ
Tiếng Việt	làm hại
العربية	ضَرَّ أَضَرَّ ḍarra
עברית	הזיק hizík

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Cite this

MLA

"harm." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/harm. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

harm. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/harm

Chicago

"harm." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/harm.

BibTeX

@misc{harm_2026,
  title = {harm},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/harm},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}