damnify

English

WOTD – 16 March 2012, 16 March 2013, 16 March 2014, 16 March 2015

Etymology

From Old French damnifier, from Latin damnifico.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdæmnɪfaɪ/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Verb

damnify (third-person singular simple present damnifies, present participle damnifying, simple past and past participle damnified)

  1. (obsolete) To damage physically; to injure.
    Synonyms: harm, wound; see also Thesaurus:harm
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. [], London: [] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      he saw himselfe so freshly reare, / As if late fight had nought him damnifyde []
    • 1638, Thomas Herbert, Some Yeares Travels, section I:
      The infectious raines most damnifying the poore saylers, who must be upon the decks to hand in their sailes, abiding the brunt []
    • 1704, Daniel Defoe, The Storm:
      The High Tide at Bristol spoil'd or damnify'd 1500 Hogsheds of Sugars and Tobaccoes, besides great quantities of other Goods.
  2. (law) To cause injuries or loss to.

Derived terms

Translations