English Meaning & Definitions
Physical injury, mental distress, or damage caused to a person or thing.
- “The new safety regulations were designed to prevent harm to factory workers.”
- “He meant no harm by his comments, though they were taken the wrong way.”
To cause physical injury, damage, or distress to someone or something.
- “The heavy frost did not harm the hardy winter vegetables.”
- “It is important to handle the fragile artifacts carefully so as not to harm them.”
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “harm”.
Derived from the Old English 'hearm', meaning 'grief, distress, or injury.' It shares roots with the Old Saxon 'harm' (insult, grief) and the Old High German 'harom', tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root related to the concept of being wounded or suffering.
Think of a 'harm-ful' alarm; if you ignore the alarm, you might come to harm.
Frequently Asked Questions About “harm”
1. What is the meaning of “harm” in English?
In English, harm (noun) is defined as: “Physical injury, mental distress, or damage caused to a person or thing.”.
2. How do you use “harm” in a sentence?
“The new safety regulations were designed to prevent harm to factory workers.”
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “harm”?
Derived from the Old English 'hearm', meaning 'grief, distress, or injury.' It shares roots with the Old Saxon 'harm' (insult, grief) and the Old High German 'harom', tracing back to a Proto-Germanic root related to the concept of being wounded or suffering.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.