harm

/hɑːm/

//hɑːm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"harm" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“harm” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,169. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,169
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Physical injury; hurt; damage.

Corpus desk

Index EN-harm · harm · English

harm · rank #3,169 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,169
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH gotten

Nearest frequency peer: gotten (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “harm”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “harm” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

harm vs HR
0% similar
harm vs hm
50% similar
harm vs has
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for harm
PropertyValue
Headwordharm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/hɑːm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#3,169
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “harm”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).harmlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “gotten” (#3,168), “healthcare” (#3,170), “household” (#3,171). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “harm” is #3,169. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around harm (IPA /hɑːm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,169 among 2,646 “H” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for harm, with forms such as "ahrm", "hamr", and "harmm". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "HR", "hm", "has", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 (“s… The correct English form is harm, spelled H-A-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    Physical injury; hurt; damage.
  2. 2
    Emotional or figurative hurt.
  3. 3
    Detriment; misfortune.
  4. 4
    That which causes injury, damage, or loss.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how harm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. No harm came to my possessions.
  2. You can do a lot of harm to someone if you kick them in the teeth.

Etymology

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”).

This word in other languages

daño(Español)mal(Français)Schaden(Deutsch)dano(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahrm
  • hamr
  • harmm
  • harrm
  • hharm
  • hram

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of harm - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ahrm2hamr2harmm1harrm1hharm1hram2
Edit distance from "harm"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "harm"?
"harm" is spelled H-A-R-M. The IPA pronunciation is /hɑːm/.
What does "harm" mean?
As a noun, "harm" means: Physical injury; hurt; damage.
What words are commonly confused with "harm"?
"harm" is commonly confused with "HR", "hm", "has". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "harm"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "harm" is /hɑːm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "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 ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "harm", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Jews#3,174bone#3,148thin#3,200tied#3,201

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Miami6 variantsBrian6 variantsrush6 variantsargue6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list