Other forms: harmed, harms, harming
To harm is to do damage to somebody or something. Harm his chances, no harm done, do no harm.
It covers physical, financial and reputational damage alike, and its breadth is why it appears in so much law and policy — harm reduction, risk of harm, harmful content. First, do no harm is the medical principle. Note harmless; and that the Old English word also meant grief and insult.
1verbharmTo do damage to somebody or something.
“Too much sun can harm your skin, so wear a hat.”
2nouninjuryDamage or injury.
“The dog looks fierce, but it won't do you any harm.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
harm is damage.
Old English hearm meant harm, grief or insult, from a Germanic root. German Harm is the same word.
Proto-Germanic
*harmaz — harm; shame; pain
Proto-West Germanic
*harm
Old English
hearm
Middle English
harm
English, today
harm
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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA