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damage

DAM-ij/ˈdæmɪd͡ʒ/

Pluraldamages (some meanings)

Verbdamages, damaging, damaged

6 meanings of damage

Practice

  1. 1
    the harm causednoununcountable
    Injury or harm to something, or the extent to which it is no longer intact.

    The flood left extensive damage throughout the lower floors.

    Inspectors assessed the damage to the bridge before reopening it.

    UsageUsually damage to something, with a lot of or some (not incorrect: a damage). Damages usually means money a court orders paid.

    Similarharm, destruction, devastation

    Note

    The harm need not be physical: Francis Bacon's essay Of Friendship speaks of errors committed "to the great damage both of their fame and fortune."

  2. 2
    to harmverbtransitive
    To harm something or reduce its soundness, quality, or value.

    Careless handling can damage delicate equipment.

    The scandal severely damaged his reputation.

    UsageUsually said of things, organs or reputations; for bodily harm to people, English says injured or hurt: the car was damaged, the driver injured.

    Similarharm, hurt, injure, destroy, devastate

    Oppositerepair, restore, mend

  3. 3
    amount owednounslanguncountable
    The cost or expense of something; the amount that must be paid.

    She winced when the mechanic finally told her the damage.

    Dinner for six? The damage came to two hundred dollars.

    UsageMostly in the joking question What's the damage? about a bill; on an invoice or in a letter, use cost or total.

    Similarbill, cost, price, tab

    Note

    Slang that treats a bill as an injury to be totted up. It is uncountable and usually comes with "the", as when someone asks a mechanic or a restaurant for the damage. Unlike the "harm" meaning, it never suggests that anything is broken; the only thing hurt is the payer's budget.

  4. 4
    verbintransitive
    To become damaged; to suffer harm, usually with an adverb such as easily.

    These plastic lenses damage more easily than glass ones, so keep them in a case.

    Ripe peaches damage easily, so growers pack them in single layers.

    UsageMostly with an adverb, above all damage easily; without one, English usually prefers the passive: was damaged.

  5. 5
    nounplural
    Money paid or awarded in a civil case to the party who brought it, as compensation for a loss that party suffered.

    The jury awarded the family $2 million in damages for the hospital's negligence.

    The landlord is seeking damages from the former tenants to cover the cost of repairs.

    Similarcompensation

    Note

    The law's word for compensation, and it lives only in the plural: a court awards damages, and people sue for damages, never for a damage. Whoever collects them is the plaintiff in the US, the claimant in England and the pursuer in Scotland. The singular stays with the harm itself, so the damage to a car and the damages paid for it are different things.

Less common meaning

  1. 6
    verb
    To pull a damaged or unsalable product from the sales floor so it can be processed.

Practice

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Origin

It comes from Middle English damage, from Old French damage, which goes back to Vulgar Latin *damnāticum, from Classical Latin damnum. It largely replaced the Middle English word scath (source of unscathed).

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  • Damage comes from Middle English damage, through Old French damage and reconstructed Vulgar Latin *damnāticum, ultimately from Classical Latin damnum. en.wiktionary.org
  • Damage largely replaced Middle English scath, which is also the source of unscathed. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle English scath, a variant of scathe, was borrowed from Old Norse skaði; remove 'native'. en.wiktionary.org