Harm
/hɑːrm/noun
Physical injury, damage, or moral wrong.
Did you know?Harm is an old Germanic word, and its deeper relatives are tied to the idea of injury and pain across multiple Indo-European languages, showing how long humans have named suffering.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱerm- / *ker-
“A root associated with injury, cutting, or pain (reconstructed and debated in details).”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*harmaz
“Injury, harm, or wrong.”
Old English
OE
hearm
“Injury, damage, insult, grief, or shame.”
Middle English
English
harm
“Injury, hurt, or damage.”
Modern English
English
harm
“Physical injury, damage, or moral wrong.”