▪ I. scathe, n. Now arch. and dial. (see E.D.D.).
(skeɪð)
Forms: 3– scathe, scath, 3–4 sckathe, 3–7 skathe, 3–8 skath, (4 skade, 5 scade); Sc. and north. 4–9 scaith, skaith, 4–7 skaithe, 5 scaythe, 5–6 skaitht, 6 skayth(t, scaithe, skeath. Also 3–5, 7 schath, 3–6 schathe, 4 schatht.
[The existing word is a. ON. skaðe wk. masc., harm, damage (Sw. skada fem., Da. skade) = OE. sc(e)aða masc., one who injures, malefactor, also (rarely) hurt, injury, OFris. skatha, skada injury, OS. skaðo masc., malefactor, MDu. schade masc. and fem. (Du. schade fem.), injury, OHG. skado masc. (MHG., mod.G. schade):—OTeut. *skaþon-, f. root *skaþ-, whence Goth. skaþis harm, skaþjan = scathe v.; the ablaut-var. *skōþ- is represented in ON. skóð neut., that which harms, skœ́ð-r harmful. On the other hand, Layamon's scaðe in sense 1 almost certainly had (ʃ), and represents the OE. sceaða (the mod. form of which would have been *shathe). The ME. spelling with sch- is of doubtful phonetic interpretation: in most of the verse examples the word thus written alliterates with sk-, and must therefore be regarded as of Scandinavian etymology; but some of the other instances may possibly (though there is no definite evidence) represent the native word.
The Teut. root *skaþ- is believed to represent an Indo-germanic *skath-: skēth-; cf. Gr. ἀ-σκηθής unscathed.]
† 1. One who works harm; a malefactor; a wretch, fiend, monster. Obs.
| Beowulf 274 Sceaða ic nat hwylc, deoᵹol dædhata. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 38 Ða wæron a-hangen mid hym tweᵹen sceaþan. c 1205 Lay. 1923, & þus þe hæȝe scaðe ferde to helle. Ibid. 14945 He wende þat hit weore soð þat þeo scaðe sæide. Ibid. 25877 For nu anan cumeð þe scaðe þe alle þine leomen wule to-draȝen. |
2. Hurt, harm, damage.
Usually sing. and without article; but also occasionally with a (etc.) or in pl.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 549 Cwæð, þæt sceaðena mæst eallum heora eaforum æfter siððan wurde on worulde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2314 Ðis sonde hem ouertakeð raðe, And bi⁓calleð of harme and scaðe. a 1300 Cursor M. 6686 Þe smiter sal quite his lechyng And þe scath [Gött. skade] of his liging. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 4 Hou thai mai yem thaim fra schathe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 57 Who may scape þe sklaundre þe skaþe is sone amended. c 1440 York Myst. xviii. 77, I praye þe lorde, kepe us fro skathe. Ibid. xxxiii. 35 With schath of skelpys yll scarred. 1450 in Charters, etc. Edinb. (1871) 71 We ar informit..þat þai dreid the evil and skath of oure enemeis of England. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters K iv, For all that it muste be knowen for the great schathe that therof myght come. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 22 It sall redound to his avantage and to our gret skaith and schame. 1606 Drayton Ode written in the Peak 30 Strong Ale and Noble Cheare, T'asswage breeme Winters scathes. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 2 To the great hurt and skaith of the king's lieges. 17.. Ramsay Falling of a Slate v, Watching sylphs flew round, To guard dear Madie from all skaith. 1785 Burns Death & Dr. Hornbook ix, I red ye weel, tak care o' skaith, See, there's a gully! 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece (1898) I. xvi. 355 Round them [obstacles]..he passed nimbly, without scar or scathe. 1895 Huxley in Life (1900) II. xxiii. 401 It was cheering..to hear that you had got through winter and diphtheria without scathe. |
b. Phr. to do (work, † make) scathe, to do harm. Const. indirect (dative) object, with or without to. † to wait (one) scathe [= Icel. veita einhverjum skaða], to inflict injury upon.
| c 1205 Lay. 12026 Mælga wes inne Scise Þer he scaðe makede. Ibid. 15784 Ne doð heo noht muchel scaðe. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 850 An ðere he werken sckaðe and bale. c 1300 Havelok 1352 Dwelling haueth ofte scaþe wrouth. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5987 Or ouþer skaþe he wyl hym weyte. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4051 Þat no burn nere so bold..to wait þe werwolf no maner schaþe. c 1470 Henry Wallace i. 111 Is nayne in warld, at scaithis ma do mar, Than weile trastyt in borne familiar. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiii. 308 Grete hurte & scathe was there made of bothe partes. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. i. 7 And wherein Rome hath done you any scathe, Let him make treble satisfaction. 1595 Locrine v. ii. 33 Nor can I finde in heart to worke his scathe. 1632 T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xvi. (1642) 57 His owne side came to the worse, doing more scath to themselves, than to their enemies. 1715 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 114, I cannot tell particularly what skaith they did. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xxii. (1850) 316 They were doing great skaith, it was said, to victual and drink. 1865 J. M. Neale Hymns on Paradise 68 If manifold temptations Of the fiend should work thee scathe. |
c. The corresponding passive notion is expressed by to get scathe, have scathe, take scathe. † Also, to catch scathe, find scathe, hent scathe, kep scathe, thole, etc., scathe.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 10648 Sey me þe soþe, and, as y am knyȝt, Þou ne shalt haue for me skaþe ne plyȝt. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 65 Withouten gult, god wot gat I þis scaþe. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 151 Lest he skaþe hent. 1375 Barbour Bruce viii. 358 Menand the scath that he had tane. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5103 Hit is skille for his skorne, þat he scathe thole. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xvi, He began to dotur and dote Os he hade keghet scathe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. xxx. 464 To redresse the harmes and the scathes that he had of them. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. v. 116 How grete harme and skaith..That childe hes caucht throw lossing of his modir! 1549 Compl. Scot. vi. 60 The fyir slaucht vil consume the vyne vitht in ane pipe..& the pipe vil resaue na skaytht. 1572, 1721 [see kep v. 2 b]. 1586 Warner Alb. England i. vi. (1589) 20 He tolde what skath the Centaures late..had found. 1642 in Row Hist. Kirk (Wodrow Soc.) p. xvii, Suche personis as had cum from Irland, and had gottin great skaithe thair. 1730 T. Boston View this & other World 263 He could not miss to catch skaith, if all the better care were not taken to prevent it. 1839 Harr. Campbell Only Daughter iii, The Laird of Kilmore..took no scaith from the..attractions of the Misses Sibellas, and Miss Anabels of the county, and at the age of forty he was still a bachelor. |
d. Alliteratively coupled with scorn. Chiefly Sc.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23338 For þair misfair suld þai not murn, Ne ans for þair skathes skurn [Gött. schathes schurn]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1874 For to wreke vs of wrathe, & the wegh harme Bothe of skathe & of skorne. 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 358 And thus the scorne and the scaith scapit he nothir. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 41 One doth the skath, and another hath the scorn. Prov. 1755 Johnson, Scath in Scotland denotes spoil or damage: as, he bears the scath and the scorn. A proverb. 1864 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xv. iv. (1865) V. 308 Let us take the scathe and the scorn candidly home to us. |
e. quasi-concr. A physical hurt or damage.
| c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1116 Conuenyent hit is to knowe, of bathis Whil speche is mad, what malthis hote & colde Are able, ther as chynyng, clift, or skathe is, To make hit hool and watir wel to holde. |
f. Something which works harm.
| 1579 Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 46 The Adders death is her own broode, the Fencers scath, his own knowledg. 1795 Macneill (title) Scotland's Skaith. 1888 Henley Bk. Verses 102 The pride I trampled is now my scathe, For it tramples me again. |
g. spec. ‘Injury supposed to proceed from witchcraft’ (Jam.).
| 1795 Statist. Acc. Scot. XVI. 122 This is done with a view to prevent skaith, if it should happen that the person is not cany. 1899 J. Spence Shetland Folk-Lore 111 The person who attempted to cross a fisherman's path when on his way to the boat, intended to do him scathe. |
3. Matter for sorrow or regret. In various phrases, as it is scathe, it is a pity. it is (great) scathe of him, he is a great loss. to think (no) scathe of, think (it) no scathe, (not) to regret, think (it) no harm. [Cf. G. schade.]
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2298 In fulsum-hed he wurðen glaðe, Iosep ne ðoht ðor-of no scaðe. c 1300 Havelok 2006 But it is of him mikel scaþe: I woth þat he bes ded ful raþe. 13.. Guy Warw. 1542 Sir, in þe sond he liþe, & þat is scaþe. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 674 Bi Kryst, hit is scaþe, þat þou, leude, schal be lost. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 446 But she was som del deef, and þat was scathe. c 1450 Merlin xxxiii. 678 And that was grete scade that thei sholde die so soone. 15.. Christ's Kirk Gr. viii, Grit skayth wes'd to haif skard him. 1787 W. Taylor Scots Poems 11 (E.D.D.) To cheat the rich some think nae skaith. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 57 They deemed it little scathe indeed That her coarse homespun ragged weed Fell off from her round arms. |
† 4. An injury, damage, or loss for which legal compensation is claimed. In pl. = damages; also, costs or expenses incurred by the claimant. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
| 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 136 He may demaund his scathis at the lord, be way of accioun of dett. a 1500 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 118, I promyse to make good all costis and scathes that may growe therby for defaute off payment. 1504 in Littlejohn Aberd. Sheriff Crt. (1904) 48 Thomas Leslie..protestit for thar costs skaithts and expenses. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xix. §xv. (1699) 104 The Unlaw to be ten Pound, and mends to the Party, conform to the skaith. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as scathe-deed, scathe-work; objective, as scathe-causer, scathe-taking vbl. n.
| c 1205 Lay. 1547 Swa þe rimie wulf þane he wule on scheapen scaðe were wrchen. Ibid. 29578 Þa hine isend hafden mid heore scaðe deden. a 1300 Cursor M. 28161 Quen i sagh oþer men mistad, of his fare wald i be gladd, for his ded and his vn-hele, for skath takyng of his catell. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Hen. VI xiii, If likewise such as say the welken fortune warkes, Take Fortune for our fate, and sterres therof the markes, Then destiny with fate, and Gods wil al be one: But if they meane it otherwise, skath causers skyes be none. |
▪ II. scathe, v.
(skeɪð)
Forms: 2–5 skathe, 4–9 scathe, scath, (4 sckathe); chiefly Sc. 5–6 skayth(e, 6 ska, 5–9 scaith, 8–9 skaith.
[a. ON. skaða impers., it hurts (Sw. skada, Da. skade to hurt, injure); corresponding to OE. sc(e)aðian to injure, rob, OFris. skathia to injure, OS. scaðon (Essen Gl.) to slander, Du. schaden to injure, OHG. skadôn (MHG., mod.G. schaden):—OTeut. *skaþōjan, f. *skaþon- scathe n.
ON. had also another verb from the same root, skeðja (pa. tense skadde), corresponding to OE. scęððan (orig. strong, pa. tense sceód, pa. pple. (ᵹe)sceaðen, whence by analogy an inf. form sceaðan; commonly weak, pa. tense scęðede), Goth. skaþjan (pa. tense skōþ). There is no evidence, however, that the ON. skeðja was adopted in English, or that either of the OE. vbs. (with initial (ʃ)) survived into ME.]
1. trans. To injure, hurt, damage. Now arch. and Sc.
| c 1200 Ormin 4468–9 Forr ȝiff þu skaþesst aniȝ mann Þu skaþesst firrst te sellfenn. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 759, Y schal scaþye hem niȝt & day þat bileueþ on Mahounde. a 1400 Relig. Pieces fr. Thornton MS. 26 He þat will noghte sckathe his euencristyn, he sall noghte consente ne na consaile gyffe to do hym ill. c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxii. 365 Syrs, I haue a greatt Iornay That must be done this same day, Or els it will me skathe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. xii. 90 That wille I not, sayd the knyghte, for hit wylle scathe me gretely and now do yow none auaylle. 1566 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 468 Throw the quhilk [false coin] ..this commoun weill hes bene greitlie hurt, and oure Soveranis and thair trew subjectis defraudit and skaythit. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 86 This tricke may chance to scath you. 1728 Ramsay Last Sp. Miser xvi, But that ne'er skaith'd or troubled me, Gin I grew rich. 1784 Burns Ep. J. Rankine iv, Think, wicked Sinner, wha ye're skaithing. 1829 H. Miller Lett. on Herring Fish., I manna skaith the rape. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. i. St. Nicholas, Holy Church..the wolves doth mock who would scathe her flock. |
† b. spec. To subject to pecuniary loss. (The amount is expressed by a second object or introduced by of.) Obs.
| 1456 Sir. G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 167 He aw to be payit of the baroune of all his soume of lenth that he war scathit of. ? 1496 in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) II. 69 Ther entred neuer a straunger ship here sithins Midlent, and that hath skathed the Kinges grace c. li. 1600 Darrell Detect. Harsnet's Lying Disc. 202 The poore man..had as liue she had so kindly imbraced another as him, for the louing salutation..scathed him 4. nobles. 1602 How Man may chuse Good Wife C 1, Ile crosse thy name quite from my reckoning booke: For these accounts, faith it shall skathe thee somewhat. |
† c. absol. To do harm. Obs.
| 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 1132 It ma nocht scaith, suppos it do na waill. |
2. To injure or destroy by fire, lightning, or similar agency; to blast, scorch, sear. poet. and rhet.
This, and the derived sense 3, appear to have been developed from the Milton passage (quot. 1667), perh. partly through sound-association with scorch.
| [1667 Milton P.L. i. 613 As when Heavens Fire Hath scath'd the Forrest Oaks,..With singed top their stately growth though bare Stands on the blasted Heath.] 1810 Scott Lady of L. iii. x, The monk resumed his mutter'd spell:..The while he scathed the Cross with flame. 1813 ― Rokeby iv. iii, The pine-tree scathed by lightning-fire. 1814 ― Ld. of Isles iv. viii, Seek not the giddy crag to climb, To view the turret scathed by time. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. viii, The fire-baptised soul, long so scathed and thunder-riven, here feels its own Freedom. 1844 Thirlwall Greece VIII. lxiii. 240 The flames that scathed Thermus. 1882 Farrar Early Chr. II. 213 The whole country had been scathed with fire and drowned in blood. |
| fig. 1842 Manning Serm. (1843) I. vi. 83 Familiar consent to evil..scathes and deadens the spiritual sense. |
3. fig. To sear or ‘wither’ with fierce invective or satire. Cf. scathing ppl. a.
| 1852 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. (1857) 152 At the same time that He scathed with indignant invective the Pharisees. 1867 Froude Short Stud. Ser. i. I. 77 (Erasmus & Luther ii.) His satire flashed about,..scathing especially his old enemies the monks. |
Hence scathed ppl. a.
| 1791 Gilpin Forest Scenery ii. 71 Many of the oaks are scathed, and ragged. 1831 Scott Ct. Rob. xxix, The hulk of the Grecian Admiral, burnt to the water's edge, and still sending forth a black smoke from its scathed beams and planks. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain vi, Its scathed and gigantic crags. 1873 R. Broughton Nancy III. 152 Is that one withered scathed little stick to be our sole protection against the storm? |