different between harm vs disadvantage

English

Etymology

From Middle English harm, herm, from Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm, from Proto-Germanic *harmaz (“harm; shame; pain”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /h??m/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /h??m/
• Rhymes: -??(?)m

Noun

harm (countable and uncountable, plural harms)

1. physical injury; hurt; damage

2. emotional or figurative hurt
3. detriment; misfortune.

4. That which causes injury, damage, or loss.

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "harm": bodily, physical, environmental, emotional, financial, serious, irreparable, potential, long-term, short-term, permanent, lasting, material, substantial.

Translations

Verb

harm (third-person singular simple present harms, present participle harming, simple past and past participle harmed)

1. To cause injury to another; to hurt; to cause damage to something.

Translations

Derived terms

Anagrams

• Hmar, mahr

Icelandic

Noun

harm

1. indefinite accusative singular of harmur

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ha???m?/

Noun

harm

1. h-prothesized form of arm

Middle English

Alternative forms

• harem, arme, herme

Etymology

From Old English hearm, from Proto-West Germanic *harm.

Noun

harm (plural harms)

1. harm, injury, ruination

Descendants

• English: harm
• Scots: herm, hairm
• Yola: harrm

References

• “harm, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harmaz.

Noun

harm m

1. harm

Descendants

• Middle Low German: harm, herm

English

Alternative forms

• disadvauntage (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English disavauntage, from Old French desavantage.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: d?s'?d-vän't?j, IPA^(key): /?d?s?d?v??nt?d?/
• (General American) enPR: d?s'?d-v?n't?j, IPA^(key): /?d?s?d?vænt?d?/

Noun

disadvantage (plural disadvantages)

1. A weakness or undesirable characteristic; a con.
2. A setback or handicap.

   My height is a disadvantage for reaching high shelves.

   • 1774, Edmund Burke, speech to the electors of Bristol

     I was brought hither under the disadvantage of being unknown, even by sight, to any of you.

   • 1859-1890, John G. Palfrey, History of New England to the Revolutionary War

     Abandoned by their great patron, the faction henceforward acted at disadvantage.

3. Loss; detriment; hindrance.
   • 1834-1874, George Bancroft, History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent.

     They would throw a construction on his conduct, to his disadvantage before the public.

Synonyms

• (an undesirable characteristic): afterdeal, con, drawback, malefit, downside
• (a handicap): afterdeal, weakness

Antonyms

• advantage

Translations

Verb

disadvantage (third-person singular simple present disadvantages, present participle disadvantaging, simple past and past participle disadvantaged)

1. (transitive) To place at a disadvantage.

   They fear it might disadvantage honest participants to allow automated entries.

   • 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, "London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):

     For London to have its own exclusive immigration policy would exacerbate the sense that immigration benefits only certain groups and disadvantages the rest. It would entrench the gap between London and the rest of the nation. And it would widen the breach between the public and the elite that has helped fuel anti-immigrant hostility.

Synonyms

• tell against

Derived terms

• disadvantageous
• disadvantageously
• disadvantageousness