harm
/hɑɹm/noun, verb
harm is spelled H-A-R-M: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,161st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, harm means “Physical injury; hurt; damage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of harm is harms.
How many letters and syllables are in harm?
| Letters | 4: H-A-R-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 30 times per million words; the 3,161st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is harm?
Harm appears 30 times per million words in written English, the 3,161st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce harm?
- UK /hɑːm/
- US /hɑɹm/
- Australia /hɐːm/
Harm has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-harm.wav, En-us-harm.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-harm.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with harm?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as harm from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: mahr.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of harm
- harms plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- harme
- harming participle, present
- harmed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does harm mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Physical injury; hurt; damage.
No harm came to my possessions.
- 2
Emotional or figurative hurt.
Although not physically injured in the car accident, she received some psychological harm.
- 3
Detriment; misfortune.
I wish him no harm.
- 4
That which causes injury, damage, or loss.
verb
- 1
To damage, hurt, or injure something, usually an inanimate object.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Harm in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mal, tort, dommage , nuire à, faire du mal à |
| German | Schaden , schaden |
| Portuguese | dano, mal , ferir, fazer mal, afligir, machucar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does harm come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).