scathe means damage, harm, hurt, injury. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 81 out of 100.
scathe is pronounced /skeɪð/.
Why “scathe” is a great word
SCATHE — [Noun, Verb] Damage or harm; to inflict such injury. From Middle English scath, scathe, from Old Norse skaði ("damage, harm"), from Proto-Germanic *skaþô ("damage, injurer"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keh₁t- ("damage, harm"). Unlike "damage," which implies a tangible breach, or "criticize," a modern act of verbal fault-finding, "scathe" carries the archaic gravity of ruin itself. It is the blight that sears a field of wheat, the ruinous fine that breaks a tradesman, or the cold verdict that withers a spirit—a testament to the deep, enduring cost etched in ledger, limb, and memory.
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)
noun
- Damage, harm, hurt, injury.“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.”
- Someone who, or something which, causes harm; an injurer.“The pride I trampled is now my scathe, / For it tramples me again.”
- An injury or loss for which compensation is sought in a lawsuit; damage; also, expenses incurred by a claimant; costs.
- Something to be mourned or regretted.“They deemed it little scathe indeed / That her coarse homespun ragged weed / Fell off from her round arms and lithe / Laid on the door-post, that a withe / Of willows was her only belt; / And each as he gazed at her felt / As some gift had been given him.”
verb
- To harm or injure (someone or something) physically.“This trick may chance to ſcath you I knovv vvhat, / You muſt contrarie me, […]”
- To harm or injure (someone or something) physically.; To cause monetary loss to (someone).“VVell goe too vvild oates, ſpend thrift, prodigall, / Ile croſſe thy name quite from my reckoning booke: / For theſe accounts, faith it ſhall skathe thee ſomevvhat, / I vvill not ſay vvhat ſomevvhat it ſhall be.”
- To harm, injure, or destroy (someone or something) by fire, lightning, or some other heat source; to blast; to scorch; to wither.“The shout was hushed on lake and fell, / The Monk resumed his muttered spell. / Dismal and low its accents came, / The while he scathed the Cross with flame; […]”
- To severely hurt (someone's feelings, soul, etc., or something intangible) through acts, words spoken, etc.“There are some strokes of calamity that scathe and scorch the soul—that penetrate to the vital seat of happiness—and blast it, never again to put forth bud or blossom.”