Etymology

harmless

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Today it means: Incapable of causing harm or danger; safe. Full definition →

Middle English harmles ← Old English *hearmlēas ← Proto-Germanic *harmalausaz
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*harmalausaz“without harm; harmless”
  2. Old English · inherited from*hearmlēas
  3. Middle English · inherited fromharmles
  4. English todayharmless

From Middle English harmles, from Old English *hearmlēas, from Proto-Germanic *harmalausaz (“without harm; harmless”), equivalent to harm + -less. Cognate with German harmlos (“harmless”), Danish harmløs (“harlmess”), Swedish harmlös (“harmless”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.