unscathed

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + scathe + -ed, the prefix meaning "not" and the past participle of the verb.^[2][3][4] The verb is from Middle English scathen, from Old Norse skaða (“to hurt, harm”),^[3][5][4][6] from Proto-Germanic *skaþōną,^[1] which also gave Old English sceaþian (“to hurt, injure”), Dutch schaden and German schaden;^[3][6][7] Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (skaþjan, “to injure”) is related.^[8] Merriam-Webster and Klein compare Ancient Greek ἀσκηθής (askēthḗs, “unharmed”), which Klein calls the only cognate outside Germanic.^[4][8] The OED compares similar formations in Old Norse úskaðaðr and Swedish oskadad.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Unharmed, uninjured: 1425, in the Scottish Acts of Parliament of James I.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED had a record from about 1375,^[9] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1325–75.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Before the 19th century the word is found mainly in Scottish documents.^[3] An older English word with the same meaning was scatheless, from about 1200.^[3] The verb scathe itself has become rare, so that it is now met almost only in the negative unscathed;^[11] Collins labels the verb archaic or dialectal in the sense "to injure".^[12]

Timeline

• 1425 – unharmed, uninjured, in a Scottish Act of Parliament.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Not harmed or injured at all: The driver walked away from the crash unscathed.^{[12][4][2][13]}

Word family

• unscathedly
• unscathedness

Related words

• scathe
• scatheless
• scathing

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
13. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin