Damages

How to spell damages

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce damages

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does damages mean?

1. nounA sum of money claimed or awarded in compensation for loss or injury.
2. verbCauses physical harm or impairment to something (third-person singular present).

Damages in a sentence

• noun

  The court awarded substantial damages to the injured worker.

• verb

  Prolonged sun exposure damages the skin over many years.

• noun

  She is suing the landlord for damages after the flooding.

• verb

  A sudden power surge often damages delicate electronics.

Where does damages come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin damnum, which meant 'loss', 'harm', or 'a financial penalty'. From damnum came the Old French damage (also spelled domage), meaning injury or loss suffered, and Middle English borrowed this during the 1200s. From the start it carried two strands of meaning that survive today: physical harm done to something, and the compensation owed for a loss. The same Latin root sits inside the modern words 'condemn' and 'indemnity', which is a useful reminder that the idea of legally assigned loss runs through the whole family. In the plural, 'damages' became the established legal term for a sum of money awarded to make good a wrong, a usage already firm in English law by the 1400s.

How the word is built

• damage (from Latin damnum: loss, harm)
• -s (plural / third-person verb ending)