DefinitionsHarmless; Innocuous
• harmless (adjective): 1. free from injury or damage; unharmed (now rare). 2. free from guilt; innocent. (now rare or obsolete). 3. free from liability to punishment or payment for damages (now rare). 4. doing or causing no harm; inoffensive, innocuous; harmlessly (adverb); harmlessness (noun). Synonyms: 1. a harmless substance; innocuous, innoxious, safe, non-dangerous, non-toxic, non-irritant, mild. 2. a harmless old man; innocuous, inoffensive, unoffending, innocent, blameless, gentle. [from ‘harm’ + ‘-less’]. (© 1998 Oxford Dictionary). • harmless (adjective): devoid of hurtful qualities; hurtless, innocent, innocuous, inoffensive, unoffensive; free from guilt or blame; blameless, faultless, guiltless, innocent, irreproachable, lily-white, unblamable; slang: clean; idiom: in the clear; harmlessly (adverb); harmlessness (noun). (© 1992,1996 The American Heritage Dictionary). • harmless (adjective): 1. free from harm, liability, or loss 2. lacking capacity or intent to injure;
innocuous; harmlessly (adverb); harmlessness (noun). (©1994 Merriam-Webster, Inc.). •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Harmless (Etymology): The etymology of the word harmless (harm + less) is rather instructive as it comes, via Middle English, from the Anglo-Saxon word hearm, meaning grief, from the Old Norse harmr, meaning grief, sorrow (plus there is also the Danish harme, meaning wrath; the Swedish harm, meaning anger, grief; and the German Harm, also meaning grief). Thus, although the word harm nowadays refers to physical injury/damage as well – the American Heritage Dictionary lists it as meaning ‘physical or psychological injury or damage’ and the Collins Dictionary has it meaning ‘physical or mental injury or damage’ – its affective-only origins are also attested by the legal term ‘grievous bodily harm’ (rather than just the words ‘grievous harm’). I have touched upon this before ... for instance (in 2004):
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• [Dictionary Definitions]:
• innocuous (adjective): 1. producing no injury: harmless 2. not likely to give offence or to arouse strong
feelings or hostility; inoffensive. (©1994 Merriam-Webster, Inc.). The Third Alternative (Peace On Earth In This Life Time As This Flesh And Blood Body) Here is an actual freedom from the Human Condition, surpassing Spiritual Enlightenment and any other Altered State Of Consciousness, and challenging all philosophy, psychiatry, metaphysics (including quantum physics with its mystic cosmogony), anthropology, sociology ... and any religion along with its paranormal theology. Discarding all of the beliefs that have held humankind in thralldom for aeons, the way has now been discovered that cuts through the ‘Tried and True’ and enables anyone to be, for the first time, a fully free and autonomous individual living in utter peace and tranquillity, beholden to no-one.
Richard's Text ©The Actual Freedom Trust: 1997-. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer |
