scathe
/skeɪð/
"scathe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scathe” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Damage, harm, hurt, injury.
Corpus desk
Index EN-scathe · scathe · English
scathe · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scathe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /skeɪð/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “scathe” in English
Rare enough to double-check
scathe is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /skeɪð/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for scathe in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scath, scathe [and other forms], from Old Norse skaði (“damage, harm; loss; death; murder”), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô (“damage, scathe; one who causes damage, injurer”, noun) (whence Old English sċeaþa, sċeaþu (“scathe, harm, injury”))… The correct English form is scathe, spelled S-C-A-T-H-E.
Definition
- 1Damage, harm, hurt, injury.
- 2Someone who, or something which, causes harm; an injurer.
- 3An injury or loss for which compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by a claimant; costs.
- 4Something to be mourned or regretted.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how scathe appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Therefore great Lords bee as your titles vvitnes, / Imperious, and impatient of your vvrongs, / And vvherein Rome hath done you any ſkath, / Let him make treable ſatisfaction.
[S]trong ale and noble cheere / t'aſſwage breeme winters ſcathes.
Etymology
From Middle English scath, scathe [and other forms], from Old Norse skaði (“damage, harm; loss; death; murder”), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô (“damage, scathe; one who causes damage, injurer”, noun) (whence Old English sċeaþa, sċeaþu (“scathe, harm, injury”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh₁t- (“damage, harm”). Cognate with German Schaden (“damage, harm”). cognates * Scots skaith * Dutch schade * German schaden * Norwegian skade * Swedish skada * Icelandic skaði * Polish szkoda * Russian шко́да (škóda) * Belarusian шко́дa (škóda) * Ukrainian шко́да (škóda)
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.