scathe
/skeɪð/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.33 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An injury or loss for which compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by a claimant; costs.
British usage; Archaic; Countable; Obsolete
verb
To harm or injure (someone or something) physically.
British usage; Archaic; Obsolete; Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "Therefore great Lords bee as your titles vvitnes, Imperious, and impatient of your vvrongs, And vvherein Rome hath done you any ſkath, Let him make treable ſatisfaction."
- "[S]trong ale and noble cheere t'aſſwage breeme winters ſcathes."
- "I red ye weel, tak care o' ſkaith, See there's a gully!"
- "Let us take the scathe and the scorn candidly home to us;—and try to prepare for doing better."
- "Now telleth the tale concerning the sons of Gudrun, that she had arrayed their war-raiment in such wise, that no steel would bite thereon; and she bade them play not with stones or other heavy matters, for that it would be to their scathe if they did so."
- "'Twas bull, 'twas mitred Minotaur, A dead disbowelled mystery; The mummy of a buried faith Stark from the charnel without scathe, Its wings stood for the light to bathe,— […]"
Etymology
From Middle English scath, scathe [and other forms], from Old Norse skaði (“damage, harm; loss; death; murder”), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô (“damage, scathe; one who causes damage, injurer”, noun) (whence Old English sċeaþa, sċeaþu (“scathe, harm, injury”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh₁t- (“damage, harm”). Cognate with German Schaden (“damage, harm”). cognates * Scots skaith * Dutch schade * German schaden * Norwegian skade * Swedish skada * Icelandic skaði * Polish szkoda * Russian шко́да (škóda) * Belarusian шко́дa (škóda) * Ukrainian шко́да (škóda)
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skeɪð/
- British English: /skeɪð/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Religion.