Meanings
present singular third person maims · participle present maiming · participle past maimed · past maimed
- To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
He was maimed by a bear.
1 more example
Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with (by way of local color) on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter I (Anarchy), pages 377–378Synonyms: mutilate
plural maims
- obsoleteA severe, serious wound.
it ſequeſtred me from the woonted meanes of my maintenance, which is as great a maime to any mans happineſſe as can bee feared from the hands of miſerie, or the deepe pit of diſpaire wherinto I was falne, beyond my greateſt friendes reach to recouer mee
1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 1
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.
Origin
- Germanic
- Anglo-Normanmaheimer
- Middle Englishmaymen
- Englishmaim
From Middle English maymen, mahaymen, from Anglo-Norman maheimer, mahaigner, of Germanic origin; see mayhem.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πηρόω
- πηρόω (pēróō)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Arabic شَوِهَ, بَتَرَ
- شَوِهَ (šawiha)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- بَتَرَ (batara)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Bulgarian осакатя́вам, осакате́я
- осакатя́вам (osakatjávam)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- осакате́я (osakatéja)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Catalan mutilar
- mutilarto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Chinese Mandarin 殘害 /残害, 致殘 /致残
- 殘害 /残害 (cánhài)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- 致殘 /致残 (zhìcán)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Czech zmrzačit, zohavit
- zmrzačitto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- zohavitto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Danish lemlæste
- lemlæsteto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Dutch verminken
- verminkento cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Finnish vammauttaa, silpoa
- vammauttaato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- silpoato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- runnellato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
French mutiler, estropier
- mutilerto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- estropierto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
German verstümmeln, verschandeln
- verstümmelnto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- verschandelnto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Hungarian csonkít
- csonkítto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Icelandic limlesta
- limlestato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Italian menomare, mutilare
- menomareto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- mutilareto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Japanese 不具にする
- 不具にする (fugu ni suru)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Korean 불구로 만들다
- 불구로 만들다 (bulgu-ro mandeulda)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Latin dēbilitō, mutilō
- dēbilitōto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- mutilōto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- truncōto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Māori whakatūroro, whakahauā
- whakatūroroto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- whakahauāto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Norwegian lemleste
- lemlesteto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Polish okaleczać, okaleczyć
- okaleczaćto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- okaleczyćto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Portuguese mutilar
- mutilarto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Romanian mutila
- mutilato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Russian уве́чить, изуве́чить
- уве́чить (uvéčitʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- изуве́чить (izuvéčitʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- кале́чить (kaléčitʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- покале́чить (pokaléčitʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- искале́чить (iskaléčitʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- уро́довать (uródovatʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- изуро́довать (izuródovatʹ)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Spanish mutilar
- mutilarto cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Swedish lemlästa, stympa
- lemlästato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- stympato cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Ukrainian ні́вечити, зні́вечити
- ні́вечити (nívečyty)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- зні́вечити (znívečyty)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- калі́чити (kalíčyty)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
- покалі́чити (pokalíčyty)to cause permanent loss of a part of the body
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with maim
Anagrams
Cite this entry
maim. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maim
“maim.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maim. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maim,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maim.
Source: maim on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.