Etymograph

English

harm

Harm comes from Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm, from Proto-Germanic *harmaz ‘harm, shame, pain’.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*harmaz‘harm’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*harm‘harm’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hearm‘harm, injury’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500harm‘harm’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*harmaz‘harm’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*harm‘harm’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150hearm‘harm, injury’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500harm‘harm’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606–1607same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1606–1607, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra: “We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *harmaz

Today it means

noun Physical injury; hurt; damage.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *harmaz / harm

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