harm
/hɑɹm/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.47 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "No harm came to my possessions."
- "You can do a lot of harm to someone if you kick them in the teeth."
- "Although not physically injured in the car accident, she received some psychological harm."
- "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."
- "I wish him no harm."
- "We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms."
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: harm, hearm, *harm, *harmaz
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /hɑɹm/
- British English: /hɑːm/